Fair Cop: A Century of British Policewomen

0:00:02 > 0:00:03I made a forcible entry at 49 Hendon Street,

0:00:03 > 0:00:06where I found children in need of care and protection.

0:00:06 > 0:00:08Could you send a policewoman down, please?

0:00:12 > 0:00:15It's been 100 years since the first British policewoman

0:00:15 > 0:00:19to be given real power of arrest stepped onto the beat.

0:00:21 > 0:00:24This is the story of the generations of female officers who,

0:00:24 > 0:00:25through their bravery and guile,

0:00:25 > 0:00:29were determined to succeed in a profession that never wanted them.

0:00:29 > 0:00:32A superintendent colleague of mine said to me on one occasion

0:00:32 > 0:00:36that it was better value to employ a police dog than a policewoman

0:00:36 > 0:00:38because the dog stayed for longer

0:00:38 > 0:00:41and, also, they didn't answer back.

0:00:41 > 0:00:44I had a male DI who, every morning, my first job was to take him

0:00:44 > 0:00:48a cup of tea, put it on his desk and curtsy before I left his office.

0:00:48 > 0:00:52'Minimum height for women is 160cm -

0:00:52 > 0:00:55'that's 5'4".'

0:00:55 > 0:00:57MAN SHOUTS

0:00:57 > 0:01:01It's a tale of class, ambition and sheer guts.

0:01:01 > 0:01:04I've had crutches thrown at me, I've had cars driven at me.

0:01:04 > 0:01:08All I could do was swing my handbag and clout them hard with it.

0:01:08 > 0:01:12A bitter struggle against sexism, intimidation and betrayal.

0:01:12 > 0:01:16I realised that I was being duped.

0:01:16 > 0:01:20I had no option but to go for equality.

0:01:21 > 0:01:23With their powers and their uniforms,

0:01:23 > 0:01:26there has never been a more potent symbol of a woman

0:01:26 > 0:01:29in authority than the policewoman.

0:01:29 > 0:01:33When I put that uniform on, I'm ready to go to battle.

0:01:33 > 0:01:36From the WPCs who pounded the beat on the streets of war-torn London

0:01:36 > 0:01:40to the first black female officer in the Metropolitan Police

0:01:40 > 0:01:43and the women smashing their way through the glass ceiling

0:01:43 > 0:01:46to take the top jobs, these pioneers

0:01:46 > 0:01:49carved out a career in a man's world.

0:01:49 > 0:01:52You do feel that you have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously

0:01:52 > 0:01:55and that your mistakes will be amplified.

0:01:55 > 0:01:58In all the time of my service in the police,

0:01:58 > 0:02:00I had one foot in and one foot out.

0:02:00 > 0:02:02There was parts of me

0:02:02 > 0:02:05that was not comfortable being in a male institution.

0:02:05 > 0:02:09This is the hidden history of a battle of the sexes

0:02:09 > 0:02:12that masked a battle for power.

0:02:12 > 0:02:16Don't ever call me boss again. Call me ma'am.

0:02:16 > 0:02:18Don't ever open a car door for me, or an office door.

0:02:18 > 0:02:21I can do that for myself. I'm here to stay, Joseph.

0:02:30 > 0:02:32MARCHING MUSIC

0:02:39 > 0:02:43It's hard to imagine a police force without women.

0:02:43 > 0:02:45These days, they make up almost 28%

0:02:45 > 0:02:48of police officer strength in Britain.

0:02:48 > 0:02:52I'm excited. A bit anxious, as well.

0:02:52 > 0:02:55Now the training's over, I can't wait to get out there and see how it goes.

0:02:57 > 0:03:00I love the uniform. A lot of successful women have worn it

0:03:00 > 0:03:02and I feel really proud to wear it.

0:03:02 > 0:03:05I always wanted to be a police officer ever since I was a kid,

0:03:05 > 0:03:09so this is my dream job. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

0:03:14 > 0:03:16..change direction.

0:03:16 > 0:03:21When Sir Robert Peel sent his bobbies onto the beat in 1829,

0:03:21 > 0:03:24it was a strictly male affair.

0:03:24 > 0:03:28It took nine decades for women to join them, and now female officers

0:03:28 > 0:03:31occupy some of the most important roles in the service,

0:03:31 > 0:03:35from armed response personnel to assistant commissioner.

0:03:35 > 0:03:38With women now thriving in every specialism,

0:03:38 > 0:03:42they are a force to be reckoned with.

0:03:42 > 0:03:44The first women in uniform

0:03:44 > 0:03:48stepped onto the streets of London 100 years ago.

0:03:48 > 0:03:52They were a small group of former suffragettes fuelled by ambition

0:03:52 > 0:03:53and the fight for the vote.

0:03:57 > 0:03:59Nina Boyle, a militant activist,

0:03:59 > 0:04:02Margaret Damer Dawson, a philanthropist,

0:04:02 > 0:04:04and an ex-hunger striker, Mary Allen,

0:04:04 > 0:04:06formed the group that became known

0:04:06 > 0:04:10as the Women's Police Service in 1914.

0:04:10 > 0:04:12With thousands off fighting at the front,

0:04:12 > 0:04:15the police force in the capital was short of recruits

0:04:15 > 0:04:18so, reluctantly, they allowed the WPS

0:04:18 > 0:04:20to do their bit for the war effort.

0:04:21 > 0:04:24These women had once battled police on the protest line.

0:04:24 > 0:04:28Now they saw themselves as law enforcers.

0:04:28 > 0:04:32I think we can say that they were feminist women.

0:04:32 > 0:04:34They wouldn't necessarily have used those terms.

0:04:34 > 0:04:37They had this commitment and I think the sense of self-righteousness

0:04:37 > 0:04:42that society as a whole would benefit as a result of what women were doing.

0:04:43 > 0:04:47These unofficial policewomen designed themselves a uniform

0:04:47 > 0:04:49and were armed with nothing more

0:04:49 > 0:04:52than an upper-class voice and an umbrella.

0:04:52 > 0:04:55They didn't have a power of arrest or carry a truncheon

0:04:55 > 0:04:56or anything like that.

0:04:56 > 0:04:58They got themselves up in this uniform

0:04:58 > 0:05:02but they were very much unofficial, really.

0:05:02 > 0:05:05And they were being tolerated partly, I think,

0:05:05 > 0:05:09because the suffragettes had agreed to behave themselves during the war.

0:05:12 > 0:05:15These volunteers helped with children being taken into care,

0:05:15 > 0:05:17prostitutes taken off the streets

0:05:17 > 0:05:20and supervised women in the munitions factories.

0:05:22 > 0:05:26When they got this job of policing the munitions factories,

0:05:26 > 0:05:29they got themselves up in these motorcycles and sidecars

0:05:29 > 0:05:33so they could go visiting their policewomen.

0:05:33 > 0:05:37At that time, senior male officers were in ponies and traps.

0:05:37 > 0:05:40You can imagine how that irritated them.

0:05:42 > 0:05:45Grantham's police force in Lincolnshire was the first one

0:05:45 > 0:05:47to directly contact the WPS,

0:05:47 > 0:05:52asking them to supply policewomen to patrol women's morals.

0:05:52 > 0:05:55With 14,000 soldiers billeted to the area, the town

0:05:55 > 0:06:00had become like the Wild West, overrun with drunks and prostitutes.

0:06:02 > 0:06:05So, in December 1915, Edith Smith,

0:06:05 > 0:06:10from the WPS, became the country's first female officer to be sworn in

0:06:10 > 0:06:13as a police constable, with official power of arrest.

0:06:13 > 0:06:15Unlike other women,

0:06:15 > 0:06:18she was fully independent to charge criminals when needed.

0:06:22 > 0:06:26Deputy Chief Constable Heather Roach has served her whole 28 years

0:06:26 > 0:06:29in Grantham, walking the same streets that Edith did

0:06:29 > 0:06:31100 years ago.

0:06:31 > 0:06:35I've got one of Edith's report cards here, which is really interesting.

0:06:35 > 0:06:37She talks about

0:06:37 > 0:06:3920 dirty houses reported,

0:06:39 > 0:06:43three local girls returned to parents,

0:06:43 > 0:06:46a prostitute charged and convicted

0:06:46 > 0:06:49and ultimately deported by London.

0:06:49 > 0:06:51What I like about her is

0:06:51 > 0:06:53although she had the power of arrest,

0:06:53 > 0:06:55she didn't use it all the time and, when you look at her reports,

0:06:55 > 0:06:59you can see people are cautioned as opposed to being taken to the cells.

0:06:59 > 0:07:03So, she uses that power sparingly, which is exactly what we do today.

0:07:05 > 0:07:08Unlike Smith, the majority of female police officers wouldn't get

0:07:08 > 0:07:11the power of arrest until 1923.

0:07:14 > 0:07:16Whilst the militant Women's Police Service was making headway

0:07:16 > 0:07:19in towns and cities across the country,

0:07:19 > 0:07:23a competing organisation was making its mark in the capital.

0:07:24 > 0:07:27The more moderate Voluntary Women Patrols

0:07:27 > 0:07:29were a band of middle-class churchgoers

0:07:29 > 0:07:33concerned about the moral welfare of working-class women and children.

0:07:33 > 0:07:38These do-gooders only patrolled for a couple of hours a week

0:07:38 > 0:07:42and saw themselves as aides to the Metropolitan Police Force.

0:07:42 > 0:07:45The two organisations continued to police the capital

0:07:45 > 0:07:47until the end of the war.

0:07:49 > 0:07:53By 1919, women over 30 had the vote and Sir Nevil Macready,

0:07:53 > 0:07:55the Metropolitan commissioner,

0:07:55 > 0:07:58decided it was time for women police to become not just

0:07:58 > 0:08:01an emergency measure, but also part of British life.

0:08:01 > 0:08:05Only one organisation would win the battle for a place

0:08:05 > 0:08:07in the Metropolitan Police.

0:08:11 > 0:08:15The softly-softly Voluntary Women Patrols were victorious,

0:08:15 > 0:08:19becoming the capital's first official policewomen.

0:08:19 > 0:08:23The motorbike-riding WPS, headed by Margaret Damer Dawson

0:08:23 > 0:08:26and Mary Allen, didn't get a look-in.

0:08:26 > 0:08:30The commissioner was very much against the Women's Police Service.

0:08:30 > 0:08:32He thought they were a lot of vinegary spinsters

0:08:32 > 0:08:35and hermaphrodites and that sort of thing.

0:08:35 > 0:08:38The police generally found them pretty irritating

0:08:38 > 0:08:42because they were so upfront and they felt they were aggressive.

0:08:42 > 0:08:47The organisation died out as the top brass turned their back on them.

0:08:50 > 0:08:55The Met felt it was better to back a force that could be controlled.

0:08:55 > 0:08:58The leader of the Voluntary Women Patrols, the attractive

0:08:58 > 0:09:03and more compliant Sofia Stanley, got the top job as superintendent

0:09:03 > 0:09:06in charge of the Metropolitan Women Police Patrols.

0:09:06 > 0:09:08I think it's fair to say that she was more feminine

0:09:08 > 0:09:10in terms of her style and approach.

0:09:10 > 0:09:12She was more diplomatic.

0:09:12 > 0:09:16The key thing, of course, is that she wasn't associated

0:09:16 > 0:09:20with the suffragette campaigns of the Edwardian period.

0:09:21 > 0:09:26In 1919, the first official 112 policewomen

0:09:26 > 0:09:27took to the streets of London

0:09:27 > 0:09:31wearing their first uniform designed by Sofia Stanley.

0:09:33 > 0:09:35Barbara Wilding, former officer in the Met,

0:09:35 > 0:09:38and her daughter Detective Constable Arabella Rees,

0:09:38 > 0:09:42from South Wales Police, have come to the Metropolitan Heritage Centre.

0:09:42 > 0:09:45"The Stanley uniform was the first uniform

0:09:45 > 0:09:47"worn by the women of the Metropolitan Police.

0:09:47 > 0:09:49"The famous London shop Harrods was chosen to fit

0:09:49 > 0:09:51"and make the uniform." That's very posh!

0:09:51 > 0:09:54"Underneath the skirts, the women wore tough serge breeches

0:09:54 > 0:09:59"and on their feet, knee-length boots of solid unpolished leather."

0:09:59 > 0:10:01I suspect these are handmade, actually.

0:10:01 > 0:10:05Look at the condition they're in now, so they've survived very well.

0:10:05 > 0:10:08And it does show early elements of trying to be...

0:10:08 > 0:10:10awareness of wearing protective clothing -

0:10:10 > 0:10:13making sure that they came up the leg.

0:10:13 > 0:10:14- But not very practical.- No.

0:10:14 > 0:10:17I'm quite glad we've moved on since that time.

0:10:17 > 0:10:20"The outfit was topped with a heavy but shallow helmet.

0:10:20 > 0:10:24"It was made of cork and hard felt." Let's try it on.

0:10:27 > 0:10:29Actually, it suits you. SHE LAUGHS

0:10:29 > 0:10:31It feels a bit like a beach hat, as if I'm on holiday.

0:10:31 > 0:10:34I don't know how you'd keep it on if you were running after somebody.

0:10:34 > 0:10:36I don't suppose they did run very much, really,

0:10:36 > 0:10:39in those days, actually.

0:10:39 > 0:10:41By the beginning of the 1920s,

0:10:41 > 0:10:43other forces around the country

0:10:43 > 0:10:47had also started to employ more policewomen.

0:10:47 > 0:10:51Many finally got the all-important power of arrest in 1923,

0:10:51 > 0:10:54which meant that they could now work independently of the men.

0:10:55 > 0:10:57Separate policewomen's departments

0:10:57 > 0:10:59headed by female officers were set up.

0:11:01 > 0:11:03But policewomen were still only dealing

0:11:03 > 0:11:06with the policing and protection of women and children.

0:11:06 > 0:11:08Chasing the criminals was left to the men.

0:11:10 > 0:11:15Throughout the 1930s, women continued to face many restrictions.

0:11:15 > 0:11:16They had to be at least 5'4"

0:11:16 > 0:11:19and were also required to leave the police force

0:11:19 > 0:11:21if they married or had children.

0:11:23 > 0:11:27The marriage bar itself continued until after the Second World War.

0:11:27 > 0:11:31In England and Wales, it was lifted in 1946.

0:11:31 > 0:11:36However, it continued in Scotland and Northern Ireland until 1968,

0:11:36 > 0:11:38which I think seems incredibly late.

0:11:39 > 0:11:44Many policewomen in Scotland wanted to hold on to it.

0:11:44 > 0:11:47They argued that if a woman married,

0:11:47 > 0:11:50her first duty had to be to her husband

0:11:50 > 0:11:52and that if you were a police officer,

0:11:52 > 0:11:55your first duty had to be to policing,

0:11:55 > 0:11:57and thus the two roles were incompatible.

0:11:59 > 0:12:05By 1939, still only 246 policewomen existed nationally

0:12:05 > 0:12:06in England and Wales.

0:12:10 > 0:12:13The turning point was to come with the outbreak of World War II,

0:12:13 > 0:12:17when opportunities to join the force opened up for policewomen once more.

0:12:17 > 0:12:19Comfortable?

0:12:19 > 0:12:22Just breathe in, please. Breathe in as hard as you can. Out again.

0:12:22 > 0:12:26To assist the regular female officers on the home front,

0:12:26 > 0:12:28the government created the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps.

0:12:30 > 0:12:33They were able to wear a uniform, but didn't have power of arrest.

0:12:34 > 0:12:37At first, these women were employed in supporting roles,

0:12:37 > 0:12:41such as clerical duties - typing and canteen work.

0:12:41 > 0:12:43'What would some of our north country bobbies give

0:12:43 > 0:12:45'for a nice, hot cup of coffee?

0:12:45 > 0:12:48'And with a charming lady cop to bring it along in that beautiful urn

0:12:48 > 0:12:50'that keeps the beautiful coffee so beautifully hot...'

0:12:50 > 0:12:53MAN INHALES SHARPLY 'Oh...

0:12:53 > 0:12:55'So, the charming lady cops depart on their mission

0:12:55 > 0:12:57'to make cold gentlemen cops warm.

0:12:57 > 0:12:58'And look at the result!'

0:13:02 > 0:13:05Gradually, as more policemen were conscripted,

0:13:05 > 0:13:07the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps began to cover

0:13:07 > 0:13:08a wider range of duties.

0:13:10 > 0:13:13In 1940, 19-year-old Irene Ball

0:13:13 > 0:13:15was one of five women stationed on the Isle of Wight

0:13:15 > 0:13:18and working at Hillside Police Station in Newport.

0:13:19 > 0:13:23The men that was on the station had to be called up,

0:13:23 > 0:13:25so they put us in their place.

0:13:25 > 0:13:31So, we were called WAPC-ies. W-A-P-C, WAPC-ies.

0:13:32 > 0:13:35With German bombers targeting the island,

0:13:35 > 0:13:39Irene was in charge of alerting its residents of an imminent attack.

0:13:39 > 0:13:41AIR-RAID SIREN BLARES

0:13:41 > 0:13:45I used to have to press the button and the sirens went off.

0:13:45 > 0:13:47That was when everybody ducked.

0:13:49 > 0:13:51Everybody went down in the cellars.

0:13:53 > 0:13:55As the island was a restricted area,

0:13:55 > 0:14:00everyone entering it or leaving for the mainland needed a travel permit.

0:14:00 > 0:14:01There was only me doing that job.

0:14:01 > 0:14:05If I said no, they couldn't come. That was it.

0:14:05 > 0:14:08I was quite bucked to think that I could stop

0:14:08 > 0:14:11the undesirables coming in to the island.

0:14:18 > 0:14:23'The streets are deserted, save for the vigilant policeman on his beat.

0:14:23 > 0:14:25'These are modern days

0:14:25 > 0:14:27'and now the policewoman helps the man in blue

0:14:27 > 0:14:30'to preserve law and order in a restless world

0:14:30 > 0:14:33'where criminals work under the cover of night.'

0:14:37 > 0:14:41The war had been an agent of dramatic social change,

0:14:41 > 0:14:45and in the post-war period, female police units continued to grow.

0:14:45 > 0:14:49Recruitment was greatly helped by the fact that in 1946

0:14:49 > 0:14:52the marriage bar was removed in England and Wales,

0:14:52 > 0:14:57allowing married women to join and serving policewomen to get married.

0:14:57 > 0:15:00'The policeman's helmet has almost become his badge of office,

0:15:00 > 0:15:05'but the women wear a smart cap, and very nice, too.'

0:15:06 > 0:15:10Elizabeth Bather, the post-war head of the Metropolitan's women police

0:15:10 > 0:15:13redesigned the uniform in 1946,

0:15:13 > 0:15:17even allowing policewomen to wear make-up on duty.

0:15:17 > 0:15:21"Bather attempted to feminise the force with her new uniform.

0:15:21 > 0:15:24"She modelled the uniform on that of the Women's Auxiliary Air Corps,

0:15:24 > 0:15:26"in which she had served during the war.

0:15:26 > 0:15:29"The shirts had detachable collars held in place with collar studs..."

0:15:29 > 0:15:32I remember those. Horrible collar studs.

0:15:32 > 0:15:33"A cap based on that worn

0:15:33 > 0:15:36"in the Canadian Women's Air Force was chosen."

0:15:36 > 0:15:39Look, it's soft. Let's see.

0:15:39 > 0:15:44I'm glad to see that we still put numbers inside your hat, even then.

0:15:44 > 0:15:47- Yes.- In case anyone else tried to take it.

0:15:47 > 0:15:49Someone had a very small head, whoever was wearing this.

0:15:49 > 0:15:52You changed your face. It's changed completely wearing that.

0:15:52 > 0:15:55This, I'd suggest, is more masculine than the first one.

0:15:55 > 0:15:56I think so, I think so.

0:15:56 > 0:15:58Especially with the addition of a tie.

0:15:58 > 0:16:00And, of course, it's still got the whistle.

0:16:00 > 0:16:01On the end of your whistle chain,

0:16:01 > 0:16:05you would always have the key to the nearest police box,

0:16:05 > 0:16:08so that you were able to go in and phone up for the van to come.

0:16:08 > 0:16:11Now, do you have a whistle issued to you today?

0:16:11 > 0:16:14No. We have a radio with a nice red, shiny button on the top

0:16:14 > 0:16:16that makes assistance come very quickly.

0:16:20 > 0:16:24Policewomen joining the force in the late 1940s and '50s

0:16:24 > 0:16:26were still restricted to the women's department.

0:16:29 > 0:16:32Even so, this was an exciting time.

0:16:32 > 0:16:36Young women grabbed the opportunity to capitalise on the equality

0:16:36 > 0:16:37that the war had given them.

0:16:39 > 0:16:41Eveline Underwood was 20 years old

0:16:41 > 0:16:44when she joined Hampshire Police in 1955.

0:16:46 > 0:16:49I had to go down to the magistrates' courts and was sworn in.

0:16:49 > 0:16:53Then I think I was fitted with a uniform that very day.

0:16:54 > 0:16:57They fitted me with a greatcoat and some leather gloves,

0:16:57 > 0:16:59but they were too large.

0:16:59 > 0:17:02I think they only had men's sizes, but I made do.

0:17:02 > 0:17:03SHE CHUCKLES

0:17:03 > 0:17:06As a WPC, she was then sent off to Staffordshire

0:17:06 > 0:17:08for three months' training.

0:17:08 > 0:17:10At the weekend,

0:17:10 > 0:17:13I used to spend my time learning all the law off by heart

0:17:13 > 0:17:19so that you could easily identify a crime when you came across one.

0:17:19 > 0:17:24Joan Lock joined the Met's women's department in 1950

0:17:24 > 0:17:26and was posted to West End Central Station.

0:17:26 > 0:17:31This was taken at the police box at the bottom of Tottenham Court Road.

0:17:31 > 0:17:35Our uniforms were tailor-made,

0:17:35 > 0:17:38so we used to go and get measured up

0:17:38 > 0:17:40and one of the senior women would come along

0:17:40 > 0:17:42to make sure our skirts weren't too short.

0:17:42 > 0:17:45Women officers were still largely confined

0:17:45 > 0:17:48to dealing with female prisoners and children.

0:17:48 > 0:17:51As the only WPC at a rural station,

0:17:51 > 0:17:54Eveline found herself having to deal with a whole range of issues.

0:17:54 > 0:17:58There were cases where children had died of cot death,

0:17:58 > 0:18:03so we had to investigate to make sure that it wasn't a crime there.

0:18:03 > 0:18:07There were also cases of child cruelty.

0:18:07 > 0:18:11I've seen children tied to bedposts, which is quite upsetting.

0:18:14 > 0:18:16Working in the capital, Joan's duties were more specialised,

0:18:16 > 0:18:19as her beat covered the vice-ridden West End and Soho.

0:18:21 > 0:18:25Our main duties were being on the lookout for runaway children

0:18:25 > 0:18:28and absconders from approved schools and borstals.

0:18:30 > 0:18:32They'd always make straight for the West End of London.

0:18:32 > 0:18:35The bright lights, as they thought they were.

0:18:35 > 0:18:38'There's no doubt at all that some girls who come to London

0:18:38 > 0:18:41'just for a good time end up by earning their living on the streets.'

0:18:46 > 0:18:50We're at West End Central, which was my first police station.

0:18:50 > 0:18:55There was 20 women here, 10 to a shift,

0:18:55 > 0:18:56and about 600 men.

0:18:58 > 0:19:01We had an office on the first floor -

0:19:01 > 0:19:04in a separate room, we had a big room of our own -

0:19:04 > 0:19:06and operated fairly separately from the men.

0:19:08 > 0:19:12This was often the sort of place that you'd find prostitutes.

0:19:14 > 0:19:17The clubs that we visited were the ones

0:19:17 > 0:19:21where we could look for runaway girls.

0:19:21 > 0:19:23They were sort of up some dark stairs,

0:19:23 > 0:19:28very sleazy and sweaty and a lot of pounding jukebox music.

0:19:29 > 0:19:33These were our little... hunting grounds.

0:19:34 > 0:19:36And it wasn't just female prostitutes

0:19:36 > 0:19:39that Joan ended up searching after the brothel raids.

0:19:40 > 0:19:42I was with this rather giggly matron,

0:19:42 > 0:19:46who was very avidly watching me.

0:19:46 > 0:19:48But all I could see was this flat front,

0:19:48 > 0:19:50so eventually I thought, "There's nothing for it."

0:19:50 > 0:19:54So I put my hand behind and just felt. There it was, all tucked back.

0:19:54 > 0:19:56Of course, she was in peals of laughter and went out

0:19:56 > 0:19:58and told all the coppers.

0:19:58 > 0:20:00Of course, it went all round the nick

0:20:00 > 0:20:02about me touching this fella up.

0:20:04 > 0:20:07Despite female officers being deployed

0:20:07 > 0:20:09in increasingly dangerous situations,

0:20:09 > 0:20:12they still didn't have the same equipment as the men.

0:20:12 > 0:20:16Even when carrying out hazardous undercover work,

0:20:16 > 0:20:19WPCs were expected to patrol alone

0:20:19 > 0:20:22without a truncheon, handcuffs or protective headgear.

0:20:23 > 0:20:27In my skirt pocket, I had my notebook,

0:20:27 > 0:20:32I had some smelling salts, which we were advised to buy,

0:20:32 > 0:20:34but I don't think I've ever used them.

0:20:36 > 0:20:38We didn't have a radio.

0:20:38 > 0:20:42The only thing we had was a whistle, which would summon help.

0:20:42 > 0:20:43SHRILL WHISTLE

0:20:43 > 0:20:46'A long, low whistle...

0:20:46 > 0:20:47'and the boys come a-running.'

0:20:52 > 0:20:53Any more for any more?

0:21:02 > 0:21:04The marriage bar may have gone,

0:21:04 > 0:21:06but with opportunities still few and far between,

0:21:06 > 0:21:10female officers still tended to quit the force after a few years.

0:21:10 > 0:21:12I decided to leave when I got married.

0:21:12 > 0:21:14I don't think my husband was too keen

0:21:14 > 0:21:20on me doing the operations in plain clothes.

0:21:20 > 0:21:23Quite honestly, I enjoyed what I did,

0:21:23 > 0:21:25but I was really glad to leave, I think, in the end.

0:21:27 > 0:21:31After six years in the Met, Joan also decided to move on.

0:21:31 > 0:21:34Because we couldn't get in to a specialist branch

0:21:34 > 0:21:39and it was limited in promotion ways and so forth,

0:21:39 > 0:21:41it became fairly boring, really.

0:21:41 > 0:21:44I think I would have liked a bit more variety.

0:21:44 > 0:21:47Today, of course, they do have more variety.

0:21:47 > 0:21:50But that was just how it was in the '50s.

0:21:51 > 0:21:55'Women have only one special course of their own - self-defence.

0:21:55 > 0:21:58'They're seldom attacked, but prepared when they are.'

0:21:58 > 0:21:59As the '60s began,

0:21:59 > 0:22:03female officers found themselves rising to new challenges,

0:22:03 > 0:22:06and even thrilling the British nation with their heroics.

0:22:07 > 0:22:11'Often, a woman can succeed where a man can't.

0:22:11 > 0:22:13'For an hour and a quarter, policewoman Margaret Cleland

0:22:13 > 0:22:15'stood perilously on a London rooftop,

0:22:15 > 0:22:17'edging towards a would-be suicide

0:22:17 > 0:22:20'with an 18-month-old baby in his arms.'

0:22:20 > 0:22:22Now, I never met Margaret Cleland,

0:22:22 > 0:22:26but I remember very vividly seeing this picture,

0:22:26 > 0:22:28of her on a rooftop.

0:22:30 > 0:22:35There he was, holding his baby, and Margaret Cleland,

0:22:35 > 0:22:37showing great coolness and courage

0:22:37 > 0:22:41whilst the crowd below increased in numbers.

0:22:45 > 0:22:49'At last, on pretext of wrapping the baby in a warm coat,

0:22:49 > 0:22:51'she jumped forward, snatched the child

0:22:51 > 0:22:53'and pulled the man from the parapet.'

0:22:54 > 0:22:57Did you work out this plan of action by yourself

0:22:57 > 0:22:59or did you discuss it with the others?

0:22:59 > 0:23:02No, when the duty officer and I got to the scene

0:23:02 > 0:23:07and I saw the baby, he was going up and I said, could I go with him?

0:23:07 > 0:23:11When I heard the accent of the man being Scottish,

0:23:11 > 0:23:13I just walked forward and started talking to him.

0:23:13 > 0:23:16And you edged forwards so that you were, in the end,

0:23:16 > 0:23:18- able to grab the baby?- Yes.

0:23:19 > 0:23:23The next day, WPC Cleland found herself on television

0:23:23 > 0:23:25and saw her pictures in the morning papers,

0:23:25 > 0:23:28showing the dramatic moment of her rescue.

0:23:28 > 0:23:30Hundreds of people wrote to her,

0:23:30 > 0:23:32and she became only the third policewoman in the country

0:23:32 > 0:23:35to be awarded the prestigious George Medal for bravery.

0:23:35 > 0:23:39I understand you've got a lot of people asking you to marry you.

0:23:39 > 0:23:41Yes, well, I don't like to talk about that.

0:23:43 > 0:23:46Such was the amount of publicity she got

0:23:46 > 0:23:49that there was a lot of resentment among the men

0:23:49 > 0:23:51who were perhaps doing the same things.

0:23:51 > 0:23:56And, in fact, this happened with almost anything high-profile

0:23:56 > 0:23:58that women got involved with.

0:23:58 > 0:23:59And in this particular case,

0:23:59 > 0:24:02Margaret Cleland said that she almost wished

0:24:02 > 0:24:04she'd never won the George Medal

0:24:04 > 0:24:08because of the amount of aggravation she got over it.

0:24:11 > 0:24:15Even if there was in-house jealousy, policewomen were in the public eye

0:24:15 > 0:24:18and their achievements were being celebrated.

0:24:18 > 0:24:22And the younger women joining the force in the 1960s and early 1970s

0:24:22 > 0:24:24were becoming more ambitious

0:24:24 > 0:24:27and seizing new opportunities to rise up the ranks.

0:24:29 > 0:24:33If you think about the type of woman who was joining the police

0:24:33 > 0:24:39in my day, they were intelligent young women, usually very efficient.

0:24:39 > 0:24:45I suspect that their quality was above that of the average male

0:24:45 > 0:24:47because there weren't so many vacancies for women

0:24:47 > 0:24:50in the police as there were for men.

0:24:52 > 0:24:53All over the country,

0:24:53 > 0:24:57young women were eager to make their mark in the force.

0:24:57 > 0:25:02Barbara Wilding was a 21-year-old WPC working on the island of Jersey.

0:25:02 > 0:25:07Jersey policing in the late '60s, early '70s,

0:25:07 > 0:25:10was very much really the same as the rest of the country,

0:25:10 > 0:25:16insomuch as we were concentrating on children, young people and women.

0:25:18 > 0:25:20It was very quiet in the winter.

0:25:20 > 0:25:22Obviously busy in the summer with the tourists.

0:25:22 > 0:25:24It was a very law-abiding place, actually.

0:25:26 > 0:25:29In 1971, she decided to leave Jersey

0:25:29 > 0:25:31and headed to the capital to join the Met.

0:25:31 > 0:25:33When I went to the Home Office training school

0:25:33 > 0:25:36and I met all these other people from other forces,

0:25:36 > 0:25:39I did realise that, actually, the world was a bigger place

0:25:39 > 0:25:41and policing was different elsewhere.

0:25:42 > 0:25:47Another young recruit and one of the Met's rising stars, Alison Halford,

0:25:47 > 0:25:51had also started her career working in the women's department in 1962.

0:25:53 > 0:25:57We do tend to specialise when it comes to dealing with women

0:25:57 > 0:26:01and young persons, juveniles or minors, as you like to call them.

0:26:01 > 0:26:06Sometimes, we have to make a very quick decision

0:26:06 > 0:26:09and the whole welfare of a child can depend upon this decision.

0:26:12 > 0:26:16But by the mid-'60s, women were finally being given the opportunity

0:26:16 > 0:26:17to do some real sleuthing.

0:26:19 > 0:26:23And Halford managed to get herself an attachment to CID

0:26:23 > 0:26:25doing undercover work for the vice squad.

0:26:25 > 0:26:27Everybody wanted to be in the CID.

0:26:27 > 0:26:31It was the magic of wearing plain clothes,

0:26:31 > 0:26:34plus the fact it was obviously very interesting cases.

0:26:34 > 0:26:37And, of course, you had to go through the rites of passage, didn't you?

0:26:37 > 0:26:41Like going across to the pub and having a glass of Watney's Ale

0:26:41 > 0:26:44and sinister, sinful things like that.

0:26:44 > 0:26:48Policewomen were finally breaking out of their stereotypical roles,

0:26:48 > 0:26:52but they had to do it on the men's terms.

0:26:52 > 0:26:53Over and over again,

0:26:53 > 0:26:57I realised that I was the only officer aide on duty,

0:26:57 > 0:27:00cos the blokes had buzzed off somewhere in a back room

0:27:00 > 0:27:02as some more blue films had been brought in,

0:27:02 > 0:27:05so they had to inspect that, so I was doing the work.

0:27:06 > 0:27:10Barbara Wilding was also making strides in the Met.

0:27:10 > 0:27:12I thought I'd really like to join Special Branch,

0:27:12 > 0:27:14so I started to brush up on my German

0:27:14 > 0:27:16because you had to speak a language.

0:27:16 > 0:27:18You also had to do shorthand - that was a bit critical for me

0:27:18 > 0:27:21cos I'd avoided anything like typing, shorthand,

0:27:21 > 0:27:22cos my mother said, "The moment you do that,

0:27:22 > 0:27:25"they'll always think you're the secretary."

0:27:25 > 0:27:27But in the middle of all this,

0:27:27 > 0:27:30I was then approached about joining the CID.

0:27:30 > 0:27:32I hummed and haa-ed a bit,

0:27:32 > 0:27:35but then I realised I could do even more things like the men.

0:27:37 > 0:27:40Undercover CID work wasn't for everyone, as Sally Hubbard,

0:27:40 > 0:27:44who was a WPC stationed at Brixton in the 1960s, found out.

0:27:47 > 0:27:51Being 5'9", undercover work is a little bit difficult.

0:27:51 > 0:27:53I remember walking down Walworth Road.

0:27:53 > 0:27:58We were looking for a particular young individual.

0:27:58 > 0:28:00My colleague and I thought we'd really dressed up

0:28:00 > 0:28:04as per what we thought people would be wearing in Walworth Road,

0:28:04 > 0:28:09and we had curlers in our hair and really scruffy gear on.

0:28:10 > 0:28:12As we walked down the road,

0:28:12 > 0:28:15a young three-year-old came out of a house and said, "Copper, copper!"

0:28:15 > 0:28:18So we knew that our cover was blown.

0:28:18 > 0:28:20I wasn't terribly good at undercover work.

0:28:23 > 0:28:26Policewomen's role in the force was to change for ever

0:28:26 > 0:28:28with the arrival of Shirley Becke,

0:28:28 > 0:28:32who became the first woman commander of the Met in 1969.

0:28:32 > 0:28:37Women police are involved in every type of police duty.

0:28:37 > 0:28:41In fact, there's only one thing they cannot do.

0:28:41 > 0:28:43They can't opt out.

0:28:44 > 0:28:47They can't say, "Not me. Go and find a policeman."

0:28:49 > 0:28:53Becke was to win her own place in the history of female officers

0:28:53 > 0:28:55in the bitter battle for equality.

0:28:56 > 0:28:59Her first move was to recruit more policewomen.

0:28:59 > 0:29:03And what better way to entice them into the force than to commission

0:29:03 > 0:29:07the designer of the day, Norman Hartnell, to create a new uniform.

0:29:11 > 0:29:15'The Queen's dressmaker, Norman Hartnell, designed the uniform.

0:29:15 > 0:29:18'And the Queen's milliner, Simone Mirman, designed the cap.

0:29:18 > 0:29:20'The whole idea is to express the new "with it" image

0:29:20 > 0:29:23'of Scotland Yard and encourage recruiting.'

0:29:27 > 0:29:29Let's go over to look at what I wore

0:29:29 > 0:29:32when I first came to the Metropolitan Police in 1971.

0:29:32 > 0:29:37- Oh, I love your hat!- Isn't this brilliant? Look.- A little bowtie.

0:29:37 > 0:29:39- Bowtie.- It's terribly smart.

0:29:39 > 0:29:43Yeah, it's stuck on with Velcro either side, and notice,

0:29:43 > 0:29:45no studs on the blouse.

0:29:45 > 0:29:47- More comfortable. - Much more comfortable.

0:29:47 > 0:29:48Take the handbag off.

0:29:48 > 0:29:51I'm trying to see how this will look with current uniform.

0:29:51 > 0:29:54I think I'd look quite marvellous going out with a handbag.

0:29:54 > 0:29:56A little truncheon!

0:29:56 > 0:29:58Imagine how close you'd need to get to someone

0:29:58 > 0:30:02- to be able to strike them with this. - I know. We did. Absolutely.

0:30:02 > 0:30:05- I mean...- Like that, you see. You had it like that.

0:30:05 > 0:30:07So, if somebody pulled it, you couldn't lose it.

0:30:10 > 0:30:13What do you think? Do I look like a younger version of you?

0:30:13 > 0:30:14SHE LAUGHS

0:30:14 > 0:30:17I think it suits you. Do you want to try the cape on as well?

0:30:17 > 0:30:19- I do want to try the cape on. - Let's try my cape on.

0:30:19 > 0:30:21It's absolutely wonderful.

0:30:21 > 0:30:25That's it. And it goes over the top of your bag. That's it. Wow.

0:30:25 > 0:30:28I definitely feel like a superhero now I have this on.

0:30:28 > 0:30:31- And then you have your handbag underneath.- Oh, gosh.

0:30:31 > 0:30:33That's it, underneath there.

0:30:33 > 0:30:37Then put the cape round there, like that. That's it.

0:30:37 > 0:30:39And then it did up there.

0:30:39 > 0:30:40I just love that cape.

0:30:40 > 0:30:42So, when did you used to wear it?

0:30:42 > 0:30:45Well, mainly at night, of course, and in the cold weather.

0:30:45 > 0:30:46But how would anybody see you

0:30:46 > 0:30:48if you're wearing such a dark item at night?

0:30:48 > 0:30:51Well, that's the whole idea. You don't want to be seen.

0:30:51 > 0:30:53You could watch people doing things and they couldn't see you.

0:30:53 > 0:30:56So, it's in direct comparison to what I'd wear now,

0:30:56 > 0:30:58because my tactical vest is bright yellow.

0:30:58 > 0:30:59We want people to see us

0:30:59 > 0:31:02and we want people to be able to identify us as police officers.

0:31:04 > 0:31:06To Becke's great satisfaction,

0:31:06 > 0:31:10the Hartnell boosted considerably the recruitment of women.

0:31:10 > 0:31:12Her next step was to create a promotion scheme

0:31:12 > 0:31:15that allowed women, including Alison Halford,

0:31:15 > 0:31:17to have a fast-track route to the top.

0:31:17 > 0:31:23In those days, there were 648 women officers and she headed them up.

0:31:23 > 0:31:25And, in fairness, she was my sponsor.

0:31:25 > 0:31:28She was the one who had faith in me

0:31:28 > 0:31:32and made sure that my career went in the right, upwards direction.

0:31:33 > 0:31:36Barbara Wilding was also frustrated with the lack of opportunities

0:31:36 > 0:31:40open to her at the Met and went to see the commander.

0:31:40 > 0:31:42She asked me where I wanted to be posted and I said,

0:31:42 > 0:31:45"Somewhere where I can actually go out and arrest people,

0:31:45 > 0:31:47"and I can do things very much like the men."

0:31:47 > 0:31:49So, she sent me to the West End.

0:31:49 > 0:31:54And then we did work very much the same sort of duties as the men.

0:31:54 > 0:32:00She obviously worked very, very hard and probably fought many battles

0:32:00 > 0:32:05with the male officers to ensure that doors did open for women officers.

0:32:07 > 0:32:08'Now for a different sort of copper.

0:32:08 > 0:32:11'Completing her training in the Metropolitan Police,

0:32:11 > 0:32:13'Britain's first coloured policewoman,

0:32:13 > 0:32:15'Mrs Sislin Fay Allen from Jamaica.'

0:32:17 > 0:32:1930-year-old Fay Allen made history

0:32:19 > 0:32:22when she applied for a job at the Met in 1968.

0:32:24 > 0:32:27I just wanted a change of direction.

0:32:27 > 0:32:32I was a nurse at the time and I always wanted to join

0:32:32 > 0:32:33the police force.

0:32:33 > 0:32:38Tempted by the Met's recruitment drive, she went for an interview.

0:32:38 > 0:32:40There weren't a lot of women there.

0:32:40 > 0:32:42I think there were five women.

0:32:42 > 0:32:46As such, it was rather euphoric for me

0:32:46 > 0:32:50knowing that I was the only black person standing there.

0:32:52 > 0:32:55Fay Allen found herself face-to-face with Shirley Becke.

0:32:55 > 0:32:57She said, "Mrs Allen...

0:32:59 > 0:33:02"Where did you learn to write such perfect English?"

0:33:04 > 0:33:06Yes.

0:33:06 > 0:33:10Oh, I couldn't think what to say, so I said, "Well...

0:33:10 > 0:33:13"I am a Jamaican.

0:33:13 > 0:33:17"And the only language I know, as such, is English."

0:33:17 > 0:33:18They were all amazed.

0:33:21 > 0:33:26As the first black policewoman, Fay Allen made headlines nationwide.

0:33:26 > 0:33:28'One of nearly 4,000 policewomen in the country,

0:33:28 > 0:33:33'their first coloured recruit will be posted to a London division.'

0:33:33 > 0:33:36To have the press attention was a bit scary,

0:33:36 > 0:33:43yeah, because of the pressure that surrounded all the situation,

0:33:43 > 0:33:44you know.

0:33:44 > 0:33:49Not everyone in Britain was ready for a black female police officer.

0:33:49 > 0:33:53There were people that wrote nasty letters.

0:33:53 > 0:33:55You know, "You're black, go back where you come from,"

0:33:55 > 0:33:58and things like that, you know.

0:33:58 > 0:34:03Most of those letters, the nasty ones, they didn't give them to me.

0:34:03 > 0:34:09I think if they had given them to me then I wouldn't...

0:34:09 > 0:34:11be prepared to stay.

0:34:14 > 0:34:16Although Fay Allen left after only four years,

0:34:16 > 0:34:18her appointment was a milestone.

0:34:20 > 0:34:26After a while, I started noticing that more black women,

0:34:26 > 0:34:30people, you know, were joining the force.

0:34:33 > 0:34:35You know, it's like footprints.

0:34:35 > 0:34:40You leave something, you know, people follow after you.

0:34:42 > 0:34:46Shirley Becke was also determined to cement her legacy.

0:34:46 > 0:34:50She wanted to see her force of 600 infiltrate the specialist units

0:34:50 > 0:34:53of dog handling, traffic and special patrol groups,

0:34:53 > 0:34:56which, up to now, had been entirely male domains.

0:34:58 > 0:34:59One of her biggest achievements

0:34:59 > 0:35:02was to see the first female mounted police

0:35:02 > 0:35:04introduced into the Met in 1970.

0:35:07 > 0:35:10'Ann McPherson and a third recruit, Isabel Mooney,

0:35:10 > 0:35:13'escort guards at Buckingham Palace and Whitehall,

0:35:13 > 0:35:17'control crowds at football matches and patrol commons and open spaces.

0:35:17 > 0:35:19'Kerbside Romeos sometimes try to chat them up,

0:35:19 > 0:35:23'but if they get too cheeky, they're told to get their hair cut.'

0:35:24 > 0:35:28Women were finally marching one step closer to equality.

0:35:28 > 0:35:31'The weaker sex took a firmer line in the cause of sex equality

0:35:31 > 0:35:33'under the banner of women's lib.

0:35:35 > 0:35:37'What will they think of next?'

0:35:37 > 0:35:40Come and join us! Come and join us!

0:35:40 > 0:35:45As the 1970s progressed, it looked like policewomen's long-fought

0:35:45 > 0:35:49and sometimes bitter battle for parity was finally over.

0:35:49 > 0:35:54'The pride of Britain's women police stripped for action.

0:35:54 > 0:35:56'Teams of lady coppers trained

0:35:56 > 0:35:58'and prepared to tackle anything a man can do.'

0:36:00 > 0:36:02It was sink or swim.

0:36:02 > 0:36:07With the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, women suddenly became

0:36:07 > 0:36:10a serious threat to male domination of the forces.

0:36:11 > 0:36:14All aspects of police work were now open to women

0:36:14 > 0:36:17and they were finally put on the same salary scales as the men.

0:36:19 > 0:36:23The women's department ceased to exist as a separate branch

0:36:23 > 0:36:25and was folded into the men's force.

0:36:25 > 0:36:27The process known as integration had begun.

0:36:29 > 0:36:30It was to be the best

0:36:30 > 0:36:33and some felt the worst thing that could happen to women's police.

0:36:35 > 0:36:41Integration I saw as a challenge and the opening up of opportunities

0:36:41 > 0:36:44because up until that date, at the time, you were really

0:36:44 > 0:36:47waiting for dead men's shoes or dead women's shoes, really.

0:36:47 > 0:36:50For Jackie Malton, who had started her career as a cadet

0:36:50 > 0:36:54straight from school in Leicester in 1970, integration also opened up

0:36:54 > 0:36:58many career opportunities she'd been yearning for.

0:36:58 > 0:37:01I moved to London because I was told

0:37:01 > 0:37:05by a senior officer that they didn't know what to do with me.

0:37:05 > 0:37:08By then I'd passed the inspector's exam

0:37:08 > 0:37:10and I said I'd met some policewomen

0:37:10 > 0:37:12from the Metropolitan Police,

0:37:12 > 0:37:16because we'd played hockey, and he said, "If I were you, I'd go."

0:37:16 > 0:37:21I did and it was probably, without a doubt, the best thing I ever did.

0:37:21 > 0:37:24But it soon became clear that integrating all female officers

0:37:24 > 0:37:27into the main force wouldn't be plain sailing

0:37:27 > 0:37:28with many women feeling

0:37:28 > 0:37:31they were deliberately being thrown into the deep end.

0:37:31 > 0:37:35Quite a number of women didn't like integration

0:37:35 > 0:37:39and they were very often perhaps the longer-serving women

0:37:39 > 0:37:43who liked their specialist role

0:37:43 > 0:37:49and didn't feel, perhaps, that they were suited to the general role

0:37:49 > 0:37:52or didn't want to do it, really.

0:37:52 > 0:37:55There were some very, very unhappy women, who were very worried.

0:37:55 > 0:37:57They had never done shift work.

0:37:57 > 0:38:00Although we did patrol and all the rest of it,

0:38:00 > 0:38:03it wasn't quite as difficult as the men.

0:38:04 > 0:38:08Mary Routledge was a 22-year-old WPC who had mixed feelings

0:38:08 > 0:38:12when the women's department in the Met was disbanded.

0:38:12 > 0:38:15We were taken a little bit by surprise with integration

0:38:15 > 0:38:17as far as I can remember.

0:38:17 > 0:38:20I was given one day's warning.

0:38:20 > 0:38:26I had to change stations within the division to go to a relief

0:38:26 > 0:38:28that I didn't know anyone on.

0:38:28 > 0:38:32I was pretty upset that something as major as that

0:38:32 > 0:38:34wasn't really discussed.

0:38:35 > 0:38:36Now, for the first time,

0:38:36 > 0:38:40male officers would have to take orders from women.

0:38:40 > 0:38:44Barbara Wilding was working as a sergeant at Harrow Road Station.

0:38:44 > 0:38:47She immediately took charge of a relief of over 30 men.

0:38:47 > 0:38:49We were given no training.

0:38:49 > 0:38:52So, I'm suddenly there giving the parade,

0:38:52 > 0:38:54assigning people to their beats,

0:38:54 > 0:38:58checking their appointments.

0:38:58 > 0:39:02It was all only done by what I'd heard, "This is what you do."

0:39:02 > 0:39:04Nobody had said, "You're going to be a sergeant on a relief."

0:39:04 > 0:39:06There was no transferring

0:39:06 > 0:39:08that suddenly the women were disbanded

0:39:08 > 0:39:11and you were expected to do the same as the men.

0:39:11 > 0:39:14That was the whole approach to integration.

0:39:14 > 0:39:17Men did all they could to test their new female bosses

0:39:17 > 0:39:19as Sally Hubbard soon found out

0:39:19 > 0:39:22when she took over the night shift at Gerald Road in London.

0:39:22 > 0:39:24The first time I was station officer

0:39:24 > 0:39:28I think was my second night of being integrated.

0:39:28 > 0:39:31Normally, it was a fairly quiet area

0:39:31 > 0:39:35and they brought in drunks, a mental patient.

0:39:35 > 0:39:39Anything they could think of to bring in, they brought in.

0:39:39 > 0:39:43In those days, there was lots of writing.

0:39:43 > 0:39:45I think I got off duty at something like two o'clock

0:39:45 > 0:39:48in the afternoon because I had all this to do,

0:39:48 > 0:39:52but determined that I wasn't going to show that I was upset at all.

0:39:53 > 0:39:57Women were regularly expected to put their lives on the line,

0:39:57 > 0:40:00but without the protection that their male colleagues had.

0:40:00 > 0:40:03Mary Routledge was posted outside 10 Downing Street

0:40:03 > 0:40:05one morning at short notice.

0:40:06 > 0:40:09The male officer at the time said, "If it's not a rude question,

0:40:09 > 0:40:13"where do you keep your gun?" I said, "What gun?

0:40:13 > 0:40:14I haven't got a gun."

0:40:14 > 0:40:16He said, "It's an armed post.

0:40:16 > 0:40:19"What are you guarding the Prime Minister with?"

0:40:19 > 0:40:22I said, "My handbag."

0:40:22 > 0:40:25Even though women weren't as well equipped as the men,

0:40:25 > 0:40:29they still snatched all the opportunities on offer.

0:40:31 > 0:40:34Female officers started to take their place in the specialist units

0:40:34 > 0:40:38of dog handling, traffic and mounted branch.

0:40:38 > 0:40:42- Is it the riding that you enjoy most about the job?- All of it, really.

0:40:42 > 0:40:46I get on with the horses very well and I like them

0:40:46 > 0:40:49and, luckily, they seem to like me a lot of the time.

0:40:50 > 0:40:52I phoned up the Met

0:40:52 > 0:40:54and I spoke to the chief inspector of mounted branch and I said,

0:40:54 > 0:40:57"I really am desperate to get on the mounted branch."

0:40:57 > 0:41:00In 1977, I started my course.

0:41:00 > 0:41:02You're the only woman on your training course -

0:41:02 > 0:41:04does that give you any problems?

0:41:04 > 0:41:06Well, being the only woman, I get a lot of teasing,

0:41:06 > 0:41:08but I don't worry about that.

0:41:09 > 0:41:13The first six months of my probation I spent in the West End.

0:41:13 > 0:41:16After I'd been there for six months, they thought they'd put me

0:41:16 > 0:41:19out on division. I was posted out to West Hendon.

0:41:19 > 0:41:22The first ever female to be moved out of the West End.

0:41:24 > 0:41:26I absolutely loved animals

0:41:26 > 0:41:30and as soon as I had the opportunity to apply for the dog section, I did.

0:41:30 > 0:41:33And then on 13th September 1980,

0:41:33 > 0:41:37I hit the streets of London with a German Shepherd dog

0:41:37 > 0:41:39and that's how I became the first woman

0:41:39 > 0:41:42to work a dog on the streets of London.

0:41:42 > 0:41:45I was the first WPC in Thames Valley on traffic.

0:41:45 > 0:41:48I kept asking the chief superintendant

0:41:48 > 0:41:51whether he would permit women to go on traffic.

0:41:51 > 0:41:54To be honest, I think, in the end, he got so fed up with me,

0:41:54 > 0:41:57there was a big meeting at headquarters

0:41:57 > 0:42:00and there was another WPC also interested

0:42:00 > 0:42:04and they decided they would give it a try.

0:42:07 > 0:42:10When women joined the specialist branches,

0:42:10 > 0:42:13they found out there wasn't the tactical clothing to fit them.

0:42:13 > 0:42:16At the moment, trousers will only be worn by officers

0:42:16 > 0:42:18performing specialist duties.

0:42:20 > 0:42:21On joining the dog section,

0:42:21 > 0:42:24they waited until I had completed my course

0:42:24 > 0:42:25to make sure I qualified,

0:42:25 > 0:42:28and then I had to go out on the streets

0:42:28 > 0:42:30initially for two weeks wearing a skirt.

0:42:30 > 0:42:34You had to climb over fences, you had to run with your dog

0:42:34 > 0:42:36and the skirts were very tight in those days.

0:42:36 > 0:42:39- They were. They were very tight. - There were no kick pleats.

0:42:39 > 0:42:41A - it looked very funny.

0:42:41 > 0:42:43B - I did get caught up on a fence one night

0:42:43 > 0:42:46and my partner laughed so much, he couldn't get me off.

0:42:46 > 0:42:50I think something that pre-empted the trousers in Thames Valley

0:42:50 > 0:42:53was the fact that I was on duty one evening

0:42:53 > 0:42:57and one of my colleagues stopped a motorcycle

0:42:57 > 0:43:00for drinking and driving, and there was nobody on relief apart from me

0:43:00 > 0:43:02that held a motorbike licence.

0:43:02 > 0:43:07So, I ended up with my skirt round my thighs, bringing this Yamaha in,

0:43:07 > 0:43:12to the delight of the complete CID department and the shift that was on

0:43:12 > 0:43:18all looking out of the windows of the police station going, "Wa-hey!"

0:43:18 > 0:43:21In the mounted branch, the only option was to wear

0:43:21 > 0:43:24the men's jodhpurs with the horrible material

0:43:24 > 0:43:27and they would have looked enormous on us.

0:43:27 > 0:43:30So, they bought in from a store in London somewhere

0:43:30 > 0:43:32just ordinary black jodhpurs.

0:43:32 > 0:43:36Equipment-wise, we had our handbag.

0:43:36 > 0:43:39- Oh, the handbag. - And that is all we had.

0:43:39 > 0:43:43- We had no handcuffs, we had no truncheons.- Ooh, we had a little one.

0:43:43 > 0:43:47- We had a small truncheon. - No, we had nothing.

0:43:47 > 0:43:49I've had crutches thrown at me, cars driven at me,

0:43:49 > 0:43:55chairs thrown at me, people coming towards me in an aggressive manner

0:43:55 > 0:43:58and all I could do was swing my handbag and clout them hard with it.

0:43:58 > 0:44:01Many of the male officers were sceptical

0:44:01 > 0:44:04as to whether the women were up to the job.

0:44:04 > 0:44:06One of the questions at my interview was,

0:44:06 > 0:44:08"Right, Wendy, now...

0:44:08 > 0:44:13"how would you feel about putting your hand down a sewage drain?"

0:44:13 > 0:44:14And I said, "Well, no problem for me,

0:44:14 > 0:44:17"I worked on a farm for years, so go on, lead me to it!"

0:44:17 > 0:44:20So all those things I was able to do without any bother.

0:44:20 > 0:44:23I was very fit and I was pretty strong.

0:44:23 > 0:44:24I remember when the M40 opened

0:44:24 > 0:44:27and we had to carry cones along the motorway

0:44:27 > 0:44:29and put them out in so many seconds.

0:44:29 > 0:44:31And they said, "Well, she won't be able to do it,"

0:44:31 > 0:44:34- and I said, "Try me."- I think...

0:44:34 > 0:44:37And I carried the same number of traffic cones as the men

0:44:37 > 0:44:41and I put them out in the same time as the men, and they were amazed,

0:44:41 > 0:44:44and from that day forth I didn't get any problems at all.

0:44:44 > 0:44:46Once the men realised that your fitness

0:44:46 > 0:44:48and your ability to handle the dog -

0:44:48 > 0:44:51cos it's not just one or the other, it's the teamwork of the two -

0:44:51 > 0:44:53they were more willing to accept it.

0:44:53 > 0:44:57I think also it's a case of finding a way round.

0:44:57 > 0:44:59- A man might do something in one fashion...- Yes.

0:44:59 > 0:45:02..but as a female you do it in another.

0:45:02 > 0:45:04It's like how I lifted the dog over the fence, how I carried the dog

0:45:04 > 0:45:07and ran with the dog - I just did it a different way.

0:45:07 > 0:45:11- Yes.- I think the main things that have changed in the mounted branch,

0:45:11 > 0:45:13for certain, are the amount of women.

0:45:13 > 0:45:17Whereas I was a real novelty, now it's just the normality,

0:45:17 > 0:45:19it's just the normality of it

0:45:19 > 0:45:22and women go into every role, which is brilliant.

0:45:23 > 0:45:24Put this on, come on.

0:45:26 > 0:45:30Nowadays, almost 60% of mounted police are women.

0:45:30 > 0:45:33PC Liz Palmer is currently serving

0:45:33 > 0:45:36in the City of London's Mounted Branch.

0:45:36 > 0:45:40I wanted to join the police because I wanted a career that would

0:45:40 > 0:45:44challenge me and that would be something different every day.

0:45:45 > 0:45:47We could be anywhere in the city.

0:45:47 > 0:45:51We'll do anti-terrorism patrols around the transport hubs,

0:45:51 > 0:45:53high-visibility patrols in the evenings,

0:45:53 > 0:45:57and just being a general, visible presence in the city.

0:45:57 > 0:46:01Keen to climb up the ranks, Liz is training to be a sergeant,

0:46:01 > 0:46:05and so she has to undertake regular public order training

0:46:05 > 0:46:08at the Met Police training centre in Gravesend.

0:46:12 > 0:46:14- And halt! ALL:- Halt!

0:46:16 > 0:46:17- Go! ALL:- Go!

0:46:17 > 0:46:19Police, get back!

0:46:19 > 0:46:20Police, get back!

0:46:20 > 0:46:21Police, get back...

0:46:21 > 0:46:24It was a bit of a shock when I first picked up a shield

0:46:24 > 0:46:26and realised how heavy it was because they weigh 17 lbs

0:46:26 > 0:46:29and they're 5'6" in height, which is me - I'm 5'6" -

0:46:29 > 0:46:32so carrying that around the site is quite a feat.

0:46:32 > 0:46:35- Go!- Police, move back! - Police, get back!

0:46:35 > 0:46:38'It was really alien to me to wear that to begin with, but actually,

0:46:38 > 0:46:41'now I'm used to wearing it, it feels almost like a second skin.'

0:46:41 > 0:46:44- Get back!- Police, get back!

0:46:44 > 0:46:48Part of the public order training teaches officers how to react

0:46:48 > 0:46:50when petrol bombs and other missiles

0:46:50 > 0:46:52are thrown at them by a hostile crowd.

0:46:53 > 0:46:55GLASS SMASHES

0:46:55 > 0:46:58'I feel very lucky and fortunate to be doing this job.'

0:46:59 > 0:47:01'You do realise that you make a difference

0:47:01 > 0:47:03'to members of the public, keeping them safe.

0:47:03 > 0:47:06'It's not for everybody and it is a challenge,

0:47:06 > 0:47:09'but I think it's a challenge worth doing.'

0:47:09 > 0:47:12GLASS SMASHES

0:47:14 > 0:47:17Back in the 1970s, despite integration,

0:47:17 > 0:47:20having women on the front line was still unthinkable.

0:47:20 > 0:47:25They were still shaking off the shackles of an earlier era.

0:47:25 > 0:47:28Being allowed to progress beyond policing women and children

0:47:28 > 0:47:30was a positive move.

0:47:30 > 0:47:32But the specialist roles that female officers

0:47:32 > 0:47:36had previously taken on were now being neglected.

0:47:36 > 0:47:40These changes would have catastrophic consequences.

0:47:40 > 0:47:42I'm sure it had a tremendous impact...

0:47:42 > 0:47:46because under the women police system,

0:47:46 > 0:47:49every time we went to a family, or we had a missing person,

0:47:49 > 0:47:50it was stored on record.

0:47:50 > 0:47:54So all of that was actually lost, vital information was lost.

0:47:54 > 0:47:58Previously, female officers had been specifically trained

0:47:58 > 0:48:01in how to deal with victims of sexual crime.

0:48:01 > 0:48:03We used to do special courses.

0:48:03 > 0:48:05They were run by women, for women,

0:48:05 > 0:48:07to deal with victims of sexual assault,

0:48:07 > 0:48:11and so we were really well skilled, not just in the law,

0:48:11 > 0:48:13but also about how to interview people

0:48:13 > 0:48:18and how to get out of them some of the most horrendous things

0:48:18 > 0:48:22that have happened to them and almost make them relive the crime.

0:48:22 > 0:48:28So you really learnt how to do that very well, and...

0:48:28 > 0:48:33of course, when we were integrated, I'm afraid that was never replaced.

0:48:33 > 0:48:38We had lost all the specialist training in sexual issues,

0:48:38 > 0:48:42rape statements, these sort of things, and...

0:48:42 > 0:48:45I found myself as an inspector at West End Central,

0:48:45 > 0:48:47being the duty officer,

0:48:47 > 0:48:50suddenly having to leave what I was doing

0:48:50 > 0:48:52and going over to Bow Street to interview

0:48:52 > 0:48:56and take a rape statement from somebody who had been badly raped,

0:48:56 > 0:48:58so it... Because there was nobody else.

0:49:00 > 0:49:04It would take many years to get these specialist skills back,

0:49:04 > 0:49:06and the overwhelming impact of this loss was revealed

0:49:06 > 0:49:10when the subject of rape exploded onto the television screens

0:49:10 > 0:49:12in January 1982.

0:49:13 > 0:49:15What you're telling us, is it the truth?

0:49:15 > 0:49:17Of course it is, I wouldn't be here now, would I?

0:49:17 > 0:49:19Well, I don't know, there might be an ulterior motive for it,

0:49:19 > 0:49:21there might be a reason for it.

0:49:21 > 0:49:25A ground-breaking BBC documentary showed Thames Valley Police officers

0:49:25 > 0:49:27interviewing an alleged rape victim.

0:49:27 > 0:49:30This highlighted just how ill-prepared some men were

0:49:30 > 0:49:32for this area of police work.

0:49:32 > 0:49:35Listen to me. I've been sitting here 20 minutes, half an hour,

0:49:35 > 0:49:36listening to you.

0:49:36 > 0:49:39Some of it's the biggest lot of bollocks I've ever heard.

0:49:39 > 0:49:40You're not upset by it,

0:49:40 > 0:49:43you haven't taken a blind bit of notice of anything that's gone on.

0:49:43 > 0:49:47The story you've told us is a fairy tale.

0:49:47 > 0:49:51Are you willing to make a statement and attend court and give evidence?

0:49:52 > 0:49:54- I don't want to go to court. - Are you sure?

0:49:54 > 0:49:55Yeah.

0:49:55 > 0:49:57Then that is your decision.

0:49:57 > 0:50:00"I want no further police action regarding this incident

0:50:00 > 0:50:02"and I do not wish to attend court."

0:50:02 > 0:50:03- Is that all right with you?- Yeah.

0:50:03 > 0:50:06We'll get you to sign this then, all right?

0:50:09 > 0:50:13I was ashamed, so ashamed and horrified

0:50:13 > 0:50:17that we as a service had let somebody down like that, so very badly.

0:50:17 > 0:50:21And, of course, I think what really hurt was the fact

0:50:21 > 0:50:24I suspected that was typical, really.

0:50:25 > 0:50:28If I was honest I could probably say that

0:50:28 > 0:50:34I have seen, to some extent, that sort of situation in the Met.

0:50:34 > 0:50:38The men were impatient, they didn't believe you, they were very,

0:50:38 > 0:50:41very challenging that this had happened and that had happened.

0:50:41 > 0:50:45The trouble is we didn't have the proper training.

0:50:45 > 0:50:49I was absolutely ashamed and disgusted by it.

0:50:49 > 0:50:53I also thought that it was very brave of Thames Valley,

0:50:53 > 0:50:57because that was the reality, that's...we could all see it,

0:50:57 > 0:51:04and that film was part of the changing process of how...

0:51:04 > 0:51:08we would deal with, you know, rape victims.

0:51:10 > 0:51:12There was a public outcry.

0:51:12 > 0:51:14The detectives involved were vilified

0:51:14 > 0:51:17and the Home Office issued new guidelines

0:51:17 > 0:51:21on the handling of rape victims by police.

0:51:21 > 0:51:24The police immediately changed the way that rape was investigated.

0:51:24 > 0:51:27At the Met, Barbara Wilding was asked to join a unit

0:51:27 > 0:51:31teaching the younger generations of policewomen

0:51:31 > 0:51:33how to work with victims of rape.

0:51:33 > 0:51:36I was taken on to the project team, to put together...

0:51:36 > 0:51:39certainly the Metropolitan Police's response to rape.

0:51:39 > 0:51:43So then we had rape suites, we had, you know, nice smellies

0:51:43 > 0:51:46and baths in the rape suites that people could put...

0:51:46 > 0:51:48and different clothing they could put on.

0:51:48 > 0:51:51People were trained how to interview,

0:51:51 > 0:51:55we had the whole chaperone selection and training process.

0:51:55 > 0:51:56That came out of that programme.

0:51:58 > 0:51:59At the same time,

0:51:59 > 0:52:04a backlash against women's equality had begun in the police force.

0:52:04 > 0:52:06Many men were voicing their concerns that the service

0:52:06 > 0:52:08was now being flooded with women

0:52:08 > 0:52:11who had not got the physical strength to do the job.

0:52:11 > 0:52:15They've been doing this particular select work up till now

0:52:15 > 0:52:18and to a certain extent they're not capable of doing

0:52:18 > 0:52:21the other duties that the men, you know, at the moment perform.

0:52:21 > 0:52:23And I don't really think that they OR the men

0:52:23 > 0:52:25want them to do their duty.

0:52:25 > 0:52:31I think that physically and mentally women are not quite up to the job

0:52:31 > 0:52:33that police officers have to do.

0:52:36 > 0:52:39Nevertheless, some women remained undeterred.

0:52:45 > 0:52:50In 1981, Jackie Malton joined the Flying Squad,

0:52:50 > 0:52:53the elite anti-crime unit made famous in The Sweeney

0:52:53 > 0:52:57and regarded as the Met's most macho enclave.

0:52:57 > 0:52:59I was one of 40 men,

0:52:59 > 0:53:02and at that time they didn't want to have a woman on the squad.

0:53:02 > 0:53:05They said, and I can understand where they're coming from on this,

0:53:05 > 0:53:07that they all felt more protective towards me

0:53:07 > 0:53:09and would have one eye out for Jackie,

0:53:09 > 0:53:12and that was kind of gentlemanly of them as well,

0:53:12 > 0:53:14but I used to say to them, "Don't worry about me,

0:53:14 > 0:53:17"you just get on with your bit, I'll get on with my bits."

0:53:18 > 0:53:21Della Cannings, who had joined the Devon and Cornwall Police

0:53:21 > 0:53:25under the graduate scheme, also relished a challenge.

0:53:25 > 0:53:27I can remember wanting to get involved

0:53:27 > 0:53:30in public order, or public disorder, rather,

0:53:30 > 0:53:33but they were all-male units at that time.

0:53:33 > 0:53:37I remember raising that with the then chief constable and saying,

0:53:37 > 0:53:40"Well, you know, many of us are fitter and more able

0:53:40 > 0:53:42"than some of our male colleagues."

0:53:44 > 0:53:47Danny Ewington was a sergeant in the Greater Manchester Police

0:53:47 > 0:53:52who suddenly found himself in charge of several WPCs.

0:53:52 > 0:53:54As a man of a certain generation, I suppose,

0:53:54 > 0:53:57one likes to think one is gallant towards

0:53:57 > 0:53:59the members of the opposite sex.

0:53:59 > 0:54:03But in the main, all the women were really, really good.

0:54:03 > 0:54:07One occasion, one young woman... I was walking with -

0:54:07 > 0:54:10she was only 19, I was...15 years older -

0:54:10 > 0:54:13answered a call to a policeman requiring assistance,

0:54:13 > 0:54:16which means he's in trouble, who was on Oxford Street,

0:54:16 > 0:54:18which is a good half mile away.

0:54:18 > 0:54:22She lifted up her skirts and she's off like a rat, straight up, gone.

0:54:22 > 0:54:23I couldn't keep up with her.

0:54:23 > 0:54:25She embarrassed me, to be honest.

0:54:25 > 0:54:29But not all women felt physically able to handle their new role.

0:54:29 > 0:54:34WPC Mary Routledge decided to resign from the Met in 1974,

0:54:34 > 0:54:37just one year after integration.

0:54:37 > 0:54:40A lot of women suddenly were leaving.

0:54:40 > 0:54:43You just couldn't put your papers in and just disappear -

0:54:43 > 0:54:45we were called up to Scotland Yard

0:54:45 > 0:54:47and we had to explain to them directly

0:54:47 > 0:54:51why we were wanting to leave, cos there was so many,

0:54:51 > 0:54:54and I explained to them

0:54:54 > 0:54:57that we were being put in positions where a man would have been,

0:54:57 > 0:55:02but we weren't given the equipment in order to deal with the job

0:55:02 > 0:55:03that we were now doing.

0:55:03 > 0:55:08And I also was so embarrassed at the thought of any male officer

0:55:08 > 0:55:12being injured as a result of looking after me...

0:55:12 > 0:55:14I couldn't have that on my conscience.

0:55:14 > 0:55:17Sexism under the new system was rife.

0:55:17 > 0:55:20In the television drama Life On Mars,

0:55:20 > 0:55:22a modern-day policeman

0:55:22 > 0:55:24transported back to the 1970s

0:55:24 > 0:55:27can't believe the Stone-Age attitude of his colleagues.

0:55:27 > 0:55:29Annie, what's happened?

0:55:29 > 0:55:32We were arresting the suspect, he were only a little lad,

0:55:32 > 0:55:34but he were too strong for Cartwright.

0:55:34 > 0:55:37Felt her tits and legged it off down the street!

0:55:37 > 0:55:39MEN LAUGH

0:55:39 > 0:55:43How women progressed depended much on the force in which they served

0:55:43 > 0:55:46and the attitudes of its senior male officers.

0:55:47 > 0:55:48There was lots of examples

0:55:48 > 0:55:52where us women saw the opportunities opening up for things to do,

0:55:52 > 0:55:55but the organisation seemed to sort of mitigate against that.

0:55:57 > 0:55:59One colleague wanted to go and work on a rural police station,

0:55:59 > 0:56:02but she was actually advised that she couldn't work there

0:56:02 > 0:56:05cos there was only one toilet, and so, therefore, you know, it wasn't

0:56:05 > 0:56:08appropriate for a woman to share a toilet with a man,

0:56:08 > 0:56:10which was ludicrous.

0:56:10 > 0:56:13When Barbara Franklin joined Northumbria Police

0:56:13 > 0:56:15as a new recruit in 1982,

0:56:15 > 0:56:18she was forced to take part in a humiliating

0:56:18 > 0:56:21age-old initiation ritual known as "station stamping".

0:56:21 > 0:56:23My first day at Newburn I was bent over

0:56:23 > 0:56:26and had the police station stamp stamped onto my backside,

0:56:26 > 0:56:30and I remember, "April 13, 1982, Newburn Police Station"

0:56:30 > 0:56:33stamped on my bum by the shift.

0:56:34 > 0:56:38There was a lot of sexism, and Ashes To Ashes is quite true

0:56:38 > 0:56:43in the way it reflected on life in the police as was in those days.

0:56:43 > 0:56:46I promise you, it doesn't hurt - over the desk, skirt up, bosh! -

0:56:46 > 0:56:49"property of the Metropolitan Police."

0:56:49 > 0:56:51You show us yours, we show you ours.

0:56:51 > 0:56:55I had a male DI, who every morning my first job was to take him

0:56:55 > 0:56:57a cup of tea, put it on his desk

0:56:57 > 0:56:59and curtsy before I left his office,

0:56:59 > 0:57:02and, you know, it was just... I just got on with it.

0:57:04 > 0:57:07In the macho police world, being openly gay in the force

0:57:07 > 0:57:12was unusual, and Jackie Malton had to develop a thick skin.

0:57:12 > 0:57:16I'm not too sure that they'd worked with any female gay officers

0:57:16 > 0:57:20that were out, because very few were openly out gay.

0:57:20 > 0:57:23And so at Christmas time, their present to me

0:57:23 > 0:57:27was always kind of some sexual toy...

0:57:27 > 0:57:32I had probably more sexual toys that I could have opened my own sex shop.

0:57:34 > 0:57:38The thing about working with a team of men like that -

0:57:38 > 0:57:41as individuals, on a one to one, they're absolutely fine.

0:57:41 > 0:57:45When they're together collectively - this is a generalisation, please -

0:57:45 > 0:57:48but it was almost tribal.

0:57:48 > 0:57:51HE PLAYS "THE ENTERTAINER"

0:57:54 > 0:57:56In order to be accepted,

0:57:56 > 0:57:58Jackie Malton had to play by the rules of a force

0:57:58 > 0:58:01where hard drinking and hard living

0:58:01 > 0:58:03appeared to be a requirement of the job.

0:58:03 > 0:58:05As one detective sergeant said to me,

0:58:05 > 0:58:07"You wouldn't have lasted five minutes, Jackie,

0:58:07 > 0:58:09"on the Flying Squad, if you'd chosen to go home,

0:58:09 > 0:58:11"you know, at five o'clock."

0:58:11 > 0:58:17If you didn't become part of that team, you would not have lasted.

0:58:18 > 0:58:24The Police Service was definitely sexist, but it also, you know,

0:58:24 > 0:58:25reflects society,

0:58:25 > 0:58:30and I never think that you can put the Police Service up in isolation

0:58:30 > 0:58:32and say it was just the Police Service -

0:58:32 > 0:58:35it was right across... right across the board.

0:58:38 > 0:58:40This chauvinistic attitude was even reflected

0:58:40 > 0:58:43in television documentaries of the day.

0:58:45 > 0:58:48'Lynne Hilton shatters most illusions about policewomen.

0:58:48 > 0:58:50'She has sex appeal, independence,

0:58:50 > 0:58:53'and is entirely unpretentious about her job.'

0:58:53 > 0:58:56Do you think you can handle most situations like punch-ups

0:58:56 > 0:58:58and fights in bars and things?

0:58:58 > 0:59:01Yes, I think so. Not physically.

0:59:01 > 0:59:04I think you can usually get away with it with a sweet smile

0:59:04 > 0:59:06and a flash of your eyelashes.

0:59:08 > 0:59:11The public actually have a perception of the male

0:59:11 > 0:59:13and female role as well.

0:59:13 > 0:59:17And of course, that took a while, to understand that we were doing

0:59:17 > 0:59:20the same job and we should have the same respect, same powers,

0:59:20 > 0:59:22all those sorts of things.

0:59:24 > 0:59:26I remember a woman, who was a victim,

0:59:26 > 0:59:30saying that she didn't want me to deal with her violence

0:59:30 > 0:59:34because her husband wouldn't do anything I said.

0:59:34 > 0:59:37I'm another woman, and he didn't respect women.

0:59:37 > 0:59:40I remember a period in Devon and Cornwall where actually the wives

0:59:40 > 0:59:44of police officers raised a lot of concerns about their husbands

0:59:44 > 0:59:47working out at night with female officers.

0:59:47 > 0:59:50And obviously didn't trust their husbands.

0:59:50 > 0:59:53As women moved into the specialist areas,

0:59:53 > 0:59:57the force began to reap the benefits of a feminine approach.

0:59:57 > 1:00:00We're still in that era that men wouldn't want to slap a woman.

1:00:00 > 1:00:03And that era seems to have disappeared now.

1:00:03 > 1:00:05They just get smacked as much as the men do.

1:00:05 > 1:00:08But at that time they were treated with respect,

1:00:08 > 1:00:11and they could calm a situation quite easily,

1:00:11 > 1:00:14much so than a 6'3" policeman going in

1:00:14 > 1:00:16trying to defend everybody.

1:00:16 > 1:00:18The women were a very good calming influence.

1:00:18 > 1:00:21Chief Inspector Sally Hubbard found that she needed all her

1:00:21 > 1:00:25negotiating skills when Wimbledon Football Club was relegated

1:00:25 > 1:00:28and hundreds of young fans decided to stage a sit-in.

1:00:28 > 1:00:31The special patrol group she was with

1:00:31 > 1:00:33wanted to move the fans along with force,

1:00:33 > 1:00:37but Sally asked them to leave, and wait for her outside the grounds.

1:00:37 > 1:00:39I just went up to this crowd,

1:00:39 > 1:00:41had a bullhorn, I think, and I said,

1:00:41 > 1:00:45"Well, I don't know about you, I'm very sad that they've been relegated,

1:00:45 > 1:00:47"but I don't know about you but I'm going home."

1:00:47 > 1:00:50And at that point they switched the lights off,

1:00:50 > 1:00:54and they all followed me out, like Pied Piper.

1:00:54 > 1:00:58But there is just a different way of dealing with things.

1:00:58 > 1:01:03Whether that would happen today, I doubt, but then I got away with it.

1:01:03 > 1:01:08In 1985, Barbara Franklin joined Wycombe CID, just outside Newcastle,

1:01:08 > 1:01:12and was teamed up with detective Steve Mackle.

1:01:13 > 1:01:16It was unusual to be partnered up with a woman in those days

1:01:16 > 1:01:20because there weren't very many women detectives,

1:01:20 > 1:01:22but I think we sort of gelled pretty quickly, didn't we?

1:01:22 > 1:01:25And you would go and do the paperwork

1:01:25 > 1:01:28- and I would go and have a pint. - That's right.

1:01:28 > 1:01:31- It's probably why we got on so well. - A really good arrangement.

1:01:31 > 1:01:32Yeah, I mean, the culture at the time

1:01:32 > 1:01:34was work hard and play hard.

1:01:34 > 1:01:37We always got the job done,

1:01:37 > 1:01:38but there was a lot of drinking.

1:01:38 > 1:01:41Detectives were very suspicious of the fact that

1:01:41 > 1:01:44maybe women weren't up to the job.

1:01:44 > 1:01:45- Can you remember my nickname?- Norma.

1:01:45 > 1:01:48Cos somebody said you had 'normous tits.

1:01:48 > 1:01:50If the phone went, "Norma, it's for you."

1:01:50 > 1:01:52Sexism was...

1:01:54 > 1:01:56- ..commonplace.- That was just the culture at the time.

1:01:56 > 1:02:01It was. Everybody accepted that that was the way that things were.

1:02:01 > 1:02:03A detective in those days dealt with everything, didn't they?

1:02:03 > 1:02:07- Yeah, they did.- Could be anything from child abuse to burglary to...

1:02:07 > 1:02:10Cashpoint machines and post office robberies, wasn't it?

1:02:10 > 1:02:12That was the crime of the time.

1:02:12 > 1:02:14And we dealt with loads of armed robberies, didn't we...

1:02:14 > 1:02:15- Yeah.- ..over the years?

1:02:15 > 1:02:18- That's proper police work, isn't it?- Proper.

1:02:18 > 1:02:19Proper police work.

1:02:19 > 1:02:22I think that very often we would go into situations

1:02:22 > 1:02:27that were defused by you... because it was a woman's touch.

1:02:27 > 1:02:30You know, there was a saying in the CID, wasn't there?

1:02:30 > 1:02:34"That person is a very capable detective."

1:02:34 > 1:02:39Nobody went overboard and said they were a fantastic detective.

1:02:39 > 1:02:40They were capable.

1:02:40 > 1:02:44If you were capable, you were very good, and you were capable.

1:02:44 > 1:02:46- It was as good as it got, wasn't it?- Yeah.

1:02:46 > 1:02:48- You were capable, Barbara, yeah. - I'd got the proper grounding,

1:02:48 > 1:02:51I knew how to deal with anything that came across the doors.

1:02:51 > 1:02:54Whether, you know, any crime at all,

1:02:54 > 1:02:56and it was working with you that gave me that.

1:02:56 > 1:02:59Which ultimately gave me the confidence to

1:02:59 > 1:03:03go on in my career knowing I was as good as the other people out there.

1:03:03 > 1:03:05- As good as the blokes.- Yeah.

1:03:05 > 1:03:07Both male and female officers

1:03:07 > 1:03:10were finally finding their feet under integration

1:03:10 > 1:03:13and reaping the benefits of working together.

1:03:13 > 1:03:17But when it came to juggling work and family commitments,

1:03:17 > 1:03:20women found many of their male colleagues more hostile.

1:03:20 > 1:03:23Superintendant colleague of mine said to me on one occasion that

1:03:23 > 1:03:27it was better value to employ a police dog than it was a policewoman

1:03:27 > 1:03:31cos the dog stayed for longer in the organisation than women did.

1:03:31 > 1:03:34And also, they didn't answer back.

1:03:35 > 1:03:38When Cannings wanted to get married in 1977,

1:03:38 > 1:03:42women still had to ask their senior officer's permission.

1:03:42 > 1:03:44We had to put reports in asking to get married

1:03:44 > 1:03:48and pointing out the details of the proposed spouse,

1:03:48 > 1:03:50so they could be checked to make sure

1:03:50 > 1:03:53they were suitable people to marry.

1:03:53 > 1:03:57I mean, the wedding went ahead, and absolutely super,

1:03:57 > 1:04:00but the superintendant on my personal file afterwards

1:04:00 > 1:04:02made a note that now she was married

1:04:02 > 1:04:05that it would be the end of her career.

1:04:05 > 1:04:08Often female officers kept their pregnancy a secret

1:04:08 > 1:04:10from the parole board.

1:04:10 > 1:04:13I was called up to see the head of CID, who asked me

1:04:13 > 1:04:16if I would like to go on a regional crime squad, and I would have been

1:04:16 > 1:04:20the first female detective sergeant to go on a regional crime squad.

1:04:20 > 1:04:22But what I didn't dare tell him

1:04:22 > 1:04:25was that I had just found out I was pregnant.

1:04:25 > 1:04:27And when I eventually plucked up courage to tell him I was pregnant,

1:04:27 > 1:04:32about a fortnight later, he went through me a like dose of salts.

1:04:32 > 1:04:35He ranted and raved and told me it was a waste of taxpayers' money,

1:04:35 > 1:04:39and how dare I waste his money and all the training I'd had.

1:04:39 > 1:04:41And so I interrupted and said to him,

1:04:41 > 1:04:44"But actually, I'm coming back after the baby's born."

1:04:44 > 1:04:46And that was when he went really off it.

1:04:46 > 1:04:51"Over my dead body will I ever have a mother who is a detective.

1:04:51 > 1:04:54"And you'll have to go back into uniform."

1:04:55 > 1:04:57Luckily for Barbara Franklin,

1:04:57 > 1:04:59others in her department were more sympathetic.

1:04:59 > 1:05:03One of my bosses at the time, a chief inspector, said he would have me back

1:05:03 > 1:05:07as a detective sergeant, even when I was a mother.

1:05:07 > 1:05:11But in those days there was no part-time, there was no job share,

1:05:11 > 1:05:14so you had to take your 13 weeks off and come back to work,

1:05:14 > 1:05:16so that's what I did.

1:05:17 > 1:05:19By the mid-'80s,

1:05:19 > 1:05:23blatant discrimination had mutated into a subtler institutional form.

1:05:23 > 1:05:26There was still resistance to change.

1:05:26 > 1:05:28Women were not getting promoted,

1:05:28 > 1:05:31and they continued to be blocked entry into specialist branches.

1:05:31 > 1:05:361983 was the year that Cressida Dick started her career as a beat bobby

1:05:36 > 1:05:38in the West End of London.

1:05:38 > 1:05:40If you think it is the thing for you,

1:05:40 > 1:05:42then really go for it for all you're worth

1:05:42 > 1:05:47because if it suits you, it's a job that people really do love,

1:05:47 > 1:05:48and find very, very satisfying.

1:05:50 > 1:05:52She would go on to become not only the most senior

1:05:52 > 1:05:54counterterrorism officer in the country,

1:05:54 > 1:05:57but also Britain's highest-ranking policewoman.

1:05:57 > 1:06:011983 seems a very long time ago.

1:06:01 > 1:06:04I mean, I loved it, but it was incredibly different.

1:06:04 > 1:06:07There were, I think, no women involved in public order policing.

1:06:07 > 1:06:10It simply wasn't possible.

1:06:10 > 1:06:14There were some women detectives, and some notable women detectives,

1:06:14 > 1:06:17but they tended to be just one in an office

1:06:17 > 1:06:20or one on a crime squad, and that was very obvious.

1:06:20 > 1:06:23Cressida Dick was doing her training at Hendon

1:06:23 > 1:06:25when Princess Diana came to visit

1:06:25 > 1:06:27as they were in the middle of a role-play

1:06:27 > 1:06:29involving a motorcycle collision.

1:06:29 > 1:06:32There's a number of things that strike me about the photograph.

1:06:32 > 1:06:35It's me and my mates and we were all in training together

1:06:35 > 1:06:38and we stayed in touch, on and off, most of us.

1:06:38 > 1:06:42I remember the Princess of Wales quite well from that.

1:06:42 > 1:06:46I remember as the role-player colleague was on the ground

1:06:46 > 1:06:49screaming his head off with his motorcycle injury,

1:06:49 > 1:06:51she turned to me and said, "Oh, men.

1:06:51 > 1:06:54"They make such a fuss, don't they?"

1:06:54 > 1:06:56And then finally I can see me

1:06:56 > 1:07:01looking slightly sort of trussed up in my uniform,

1:07:01 > 1:07:04not probably all that comfortable, in a way,

1:07:04 > 1:07:07and just a little bit uncertain as to whether

1:07:07 > 1:07:10this was all going to work out and whether I'd be any good at it.

1:07:10 > 1:07:13Meanwhile, that very same year,

1:07:13 > 1:07:16history was made in Merseyside, where Alison Halford became

1:07:16 > 1:07:19the force's first female assistant chief constable,

1:07:19 > 1:07:22making her the highest-ranking woman in the country.

1:07:22 > 1:07:23When Alison Halford

1:07:23 > 1:07:26and subsequent colleagues were made assistant chiefs, you know,

1:07:26 > 1:07:29that was such a watershed for us -

1:07:29 > 1:07:33it gave us those role models of people who meant that we could

1:07:33 > 1:07:37aspire to something that had been impossible prior to that.

1:07:37 > 1:07:42For the first few weeks I was master of all I surveyed.

1:07:42 > 1:07:44A completely new job.

1:07:44 > 1:07:45Ma'am here, ma'am there.

1:07:45 > 1:07:47"Your parking space there, ma'am.

1:07:47 > 1:07:49"If you want to be driven, ma'am, that's it."

1:07:49 > 1:07:52Just amazing. Something like that I'd never experienced before.

1:07:54 > 1:07:59This is a photograph of myself in very early days in Merseyside.

1:07:59 > 1:08:03And I'm holding a hat that I was privileged to design

1:08:03 > 1:08:06with the help of a hat expert.

1:08:06 > 1:08:08Because when I went to Merseyside,

1:08:08 > 1:08:11I could actually invent my own uniform,

1:08:11 > 1:08:13being the first unique individual.

1:08:13 > 1:08:17And I felt very proud to wear that as part of my uniform.

1:08:18 > 1:08:20At the same time,

1:08:20 > 1:08:23the uniform was also being updated for lower ranks

1:08:23 > 1:08:26across the country in line with modern policing.

1:08:26 > 1:08:29Policewomen were finally given a reinforced hat,

1:08:29 > 1:08:32which men had been wearing from the very start.

1:08:32 > 1:08:35I certainly wore something very similar to this

1:08:35 > 1:08:38when I was an inspector.

1:08:38 > 1:08:41- In fact, the hat.- Hard hat. - Hard hat, look at that.

1:08:41 > 1:08:44This is very similar to your hat, isn't it?

1:08:44 > 1:08:46- It's the same, but just different crest.- Yes.

1:08:46 > 1:08:50In the 1980s, female officers were given the option

1:08:50 > 1:08:51to wear trousers on duty.

1:08:51 > 1:08:53I never wore trousers. I always wore a skirt.

1:08:53 > 1:08:56As you notice, no whistle chain.

1:08:56 > 1:08:57- No.- The whistle's gone,

1:08:57 > 1:09:00because they've got these radios. Feel it, the weight of it.

1:09:00 > 1:09:04- It's like a brick.- My radio, it's slightly larger than this.

1:09:04 > 1:09:06But it's much lighter and it's got a battery pack on the back

1:09:06 > 1:09:09and that's all that's required. It just sits there.

1:09:09 > 1:09:11But what about all the other appointments you've got?

1:09:11 > 1:09:14This is a modern day ASP.

1:09:14 > 1:09:17You can extend it in a single strike.

1:09:17 > 1:09:19So by the time you connect with somebody

1:09:19 > 1:09:20it'll be a extended version.

1:09:20 > 1:09:22And these? Did you ever have any of these?

1:09:22 > 1:09:24Well, I did have handcuffs, but I never used them.

1:09:24 > 1:09:26And they weren't rigid like those.

1:09:26 > 1:09:28They folded over together in a little pouch

1:09:28 > 1:09:30and you could carry them on your belt.

1:09:30 > 1:09:31So all this stuff is starting to mount up.

1:09:31 > 1:09:34And the weight of that, the weight of this all on your vest?

1:09:34 > 1:09:37I weigh two stone more when I'm wearing... Two stone?

1:09:37 > 1:09:39Two stone more when I'm wearing full kit with my stab vest

1:09:39 > 1:09:41and all my appointments, everything.

1:09:41 > 1:09:46I didn't spend a lot of time in uniform, cos I was in CID,

1:09:46 > 1:09:50but it was really noticeable the way people treated you differently

1:09:50 > 1:09:52when you had the uniform on to when you're in plain clothes.

1:09:52 > 1:09:55So how does it feel for you when you put your uniform on?

1:09:55 > 1:09:58I think when I put my uniform on now at the beginning of a shift,

1:09:58 > 1:10:00I almost feel, cos there's so much of it,

1:10:00 > 1:10:02I feel like I'm ready to go to battle now.

1:10:02 > 1:10:04It's almost like a blanket and a protection.

1:10:04 > 1:10:07When I put that uniform on, I'm ready to go and I'm ready to help.

1:10:10 > 1:10:13Updating policewomen's uniform and equipment was one way in which

1:10:13 > 1:10:18the police force was prepared to modernise in the mid-'80s.

1:10:18 > 1:10:22But a far more important milestone came in 1985.

1:10:22 > 1:10:25The last bastion of male exclusivity was breached

1:10:25 > 1:10:29when all armed positions finally became open to women in the UK.

1:10:29 > 1:10:31Except in Northern Ireland,

1:10:31 > 1:10:35where women in the Royal Ulster Constabulary

1:10:35 > 1:10:38were expected to work in incredibly dangerous conditions -

1:10:38 > 1:10:40but unlike their male colleagues,

1:10:40 > 1:10:42all they had was a woman's secret weapon.

1:10:42 > 1:10:46When we were being issued with our uniform and equipment,

1:10:46 > 1:10:49my male colleagues were issued with their baton

1:10:49 > 1:10:53and their personal protection weapon, their firearm.

1:10:53 > 1:10:56And the female officers were issued with a handbag.

1:10:56 > 1:10:59I look back on that with a wry smile,

1:10:59 > 1:11:03because we were patrolling the same streets,

1:11:03 > 1:11:06in the same vehicles, facing the same dangers.

1:11:06 > 1:11:08What do you do when you're faced with fires and guns

1:11:08 > 1:11:11and explosions and things? Does it not frighten you at all?

1:11:11 > 1:11:14Well, who wouldn't be afraid? But you just have to do.

1:11:16 > 1:11:19In 1980, the RUC decided that full-time reservists

1:11:19 > 1:11:21should be armed.

1:11:21 > 1:11:23It was catch-22 for women.

1:11:23 > 1:11:25They were barred from being armed,

1:11:25 > 1:11:28so they were barred from doing the job.

1:11:28 > 1:11:32RUC policewomen decided to take matters into their own hands.

1:11:32 > 1:11:34Marguerite Johnston, a reservist,

1:11:34 > 1:11:37took a sex discrimination case to the European Court.

1:11:37 > 1:11:40Full-time reserve officers were on three-year contracts.

1:11:40 > 1:11:42And her contract was not renewed

1:11:42 > 1:11:45because she wasn't able to do security duty

1:11:45 > 1:11:48because she didn't carry a firearm.

1:11:48 > 1:11:52Johnston won her claim, and as a result, in 1994,

1:11:52 > 1:11:56RUC women were finally allowed to carry firearms.

1:11:56 > 1:11:58Those of us in the modern-day police service

1:11:58 > 1:12:01owe a huge debt of gratitude to that female officer

1:12:01 > 1:12:04who had the courage to stand up.

1:12:04 > 1:12:08In my opinion, and this is a personal opinion,

1:12:08 > 1:12:13the arming of female officers was the final physical barrier

1:12:13 > 1:12:17to full integration and equality within the RUC.

1:12:17 > 1:12:23And it is remarkable that that final barrier was only removed in 1994.

1:12:26 > 1:12:29Women were now policing on the front line

1:12:29 > 1:12:31and were facing the same dangers and the responsibilities

1:12:31 > 1:12:33as their male counterparts.

1:12:33 > 1:12:37However, when female officers started to compete more and more

1:12:37 > 1:12:39for senior rank, the knives came out.

1:12:39 > 1:12:43Yours is a very important appointment, Jean.

1:12:43 > 1:12:47- Few women in England running a whole town like this.- Yes.

1:12:47 > 1:12:49There are quite a few around

1:12:49 > 1:12:52who'd be pleased to see you fail in any way.

1:12:52 > 1:12:56Everybody was sort of saying, "Good on you. You're doing things."

1:12:56 > 1:12:59But then you're suddenly going on the same promotion board

1:12:59 > 1:13:02and then it did become a competition.

1:13:02 > 1:13:06And you had the phrase, "Well, you're bound to get it, you're a woman."

1:13:06 > 1:13:10And my reply was always, "Well, it's worked against me all these years.

1:13:10 > 1:13:12"If it works for me now, right on."

1:13:12 > 1:13:15Some of the comments that you received about promotion

1:13:15 > 1:13:18was that you only got it because you were a woman.

1:13:18 > 1:13:21So it was like positive discrimination,

1:13:21 > 1:13:24and they had to promote you. So the man and the woman went up

1:13:24 > 1:13:26and you were the woman and you'd get it.

1:13:26 > 1:13:31Very, very, very few in those days, not true today,

1:13:31 > 1:13:36in those days would say, "You got it because you were a good officer."

1:13:38 > 1:13:40In 1989, Jackie Malton went to Hammersmith

1:13:40 > 1:13:43as detective chief inspector of the Flying Squad.

1:13:43 > 1:13:46She was one of only three DCIs who were female

1:13:46 > 1:13:48in the Metropolitan Police.

1:13:49 > 1:13:51I got a call from an ex-colleague.

1:13:51 > 1:13:56He said to me, "Could you meet this writer called Lynda La Plante?

1:13:56 > 1:14:00"She wants to write a programme about a woman DCI."

1:14:02 > 1:14:06She soon become the model for Prime Suspect's Jane Tennison,

1:14:06 > 1:14:07fighting her way up the ranks

1:14:07 > 1:14:11of the male-dominated organisation of British policing.

1:14:12 > 1:14:15The perception always was that if there was a man and a woman,

1:14:15 > 1:14:18the male officer was the senior one.

1:14:18 > 1:14:21So Prime Suspect, where the character Tennison

1:14:21 > 1:14:24goes up to Manchester with a male colleague,

1:14:24 > 1:14:27the police service in Manchester kind of automatically

1:14:27 > 1:14:30goes to the male and says, "Nice to meet you, sir,"

1:14:30 > 1:14:32and there's a presumption that he is the DCI.

1:14:32 > 1:14:35Welcome to Manchester. Had a good journey, Inspector?

1:14:35 > 1:14:39- I'm DC Jones, actually. This is Chief Inspector Tennison.- Morning.

1:14:41 > 1:14:45Well, I told Linda about the ma'am business.

1:14:45 > 1:14:48It was out of proportion to the job that I did,

1:14:48 > 1:14:51and certainly not deservedly.

1:14:51 > 1:14:54You know, to be called ma'am is ridiculous.

1:14:54 > 1:14:57And so the male bosses were called guv'nor...

1:14:57 > 1:15:00or in the provincial courses they call them "boss"

1:15:00 > 1:15:03and in the Met they call them "guv".

1:15:03 > 1:15:05- So what do you think? - About what, sir?

1:15:06 > 1:15:08My voice suddenly got lower, has it?

1:15:08 > 1:15:10Maybe my knickers are too tight.

1:15:10 > 1:15:12Listen, I like to be called guv'nor or the boss.

1:15:12 > 1:15:16I don't like ma'am, I'm not the bloody Queen, so take your pick.

1:15:16 > 1:15:17Yes, ma'am.

1:15:17 > 1:15:19SHE SIGHS

1:15:19 > 1:15:22In all the time of my service in the police,

1:15:22 > 1:15:26I had one foot in and one foot out. I was incongruent in myself.

1:15:26 > 1:15:29There was parts of me that was not comfortable

1:15:29 > 1:15:31being in a male institution,

1:15:31 > 1:15:34and that's my truth, I wasn't comfortable.

1:15:34 > 1:15:37And yet, you were part of an institution

1:15:37 > 1:15:40that you felt that you were betraying.

1:15:40 > 1:15:42So were you betraying yourself?

1:15:42 > 1:15:44Were you betraying the organisation? Etc.

1:15:44 > 1:15:47Were you betraying women? And trying to get that balance.

1:15:49 > 1:15:53After integration, there was no internal grievance procedure

1:15:53 > 1:15:57for officers to raise complaints or allegations of discrimination.

1:15:57 > 1:16:00So a growing number of women started to turn to litigation

1:16:00 > 1:16:02to press their claims for advancement.

1:16:04 > 1:16:08One of the most high-profile cases started innocently enough

1:16:08 > 1:16:11when Joan Lock, now writing for the Police Review,

1:16:11 > 1:16:14asked whether Britain was ever going to get a female chief constable.

1:16:16 > 1:16:19To our surprise, a couple of weeks later,

1:16:19 > 1:16:23an article landed on the desk of the editor

1:16:23 > 1:16:27and it was entitled Until The 12th Of Never.

1:16:27 > 1:16:29And it was from Alison Halford.

1:16:30 > 1:16:32We were very surprised

1:16:32 > 1:16:36she'd put her head above the parapet to such an extent.

1:16:36 > 1:16:41And it turned out that she was having a hard time in Merseyside.

1:16:41 > 1:16:44The article just poured out what I felt.

1:16:44 > 1:16:48It was called Until The 12th Of Never.

1:16:48 > 1:16:50The song is, "And that's a long, long time."

1:16:50 > 1:16:54I felt that women were not ever going to be promoted.

1:16:54 > 1:16:58I believed that however good you were, however articulate,

1:16:58 > 1:17:02however accomplished, however professional you were,

1:17:02 > 1:17:06I was reading the situation that a woman would not be promoted.

1:17:06 > 1:17:09And when I wrote it I buzzed off on holiday -

1:17:09 > 1:17:12I knew it would cause quite a bit of a furore.

1:17:12 > 1:17:14When I came back, nobody mentioned it.

1:17:14 > 1:17:18Nobody mentioned it at all. It was as if it had never happened.

1:17:19 > 1:17:23But soon relationships with her male colleagues began to deteriorate

1:17:23 > 1:17:26and Halford failed repeatedly to win promotion -

1:17:26 > 1:17:30nine times between 1987 and 1990.

1:17:30 > 1:17:34I had a very good friend who was a chief constable

1:17:34 > 1:17:36in a particular force

1:17:36 > 1:17:40and he was indicating that possibly I wasn't being treated fairly,

1:17:40 > 1:17:45and at some stage I actually managed to read

1:17:45 > 1:17:49what my boss at the time thought about me.

1:17:49 > 1:17:52They'd stupidly put it on the force computer.

1:17:52 > 1:17:55And I realised that I was being duped,

1:17:55 > 1:17:59so when I actually read what they actually thought about me -

1:17:59 > 1:18:03that was going to Home Office - I had no option

1:18:03 > 1:18:06but to go for equality.

1:18:07 > 1:18:11Halford started her sex discrimination suit in 1990

1:18:11 > 1:18:14and hit the headlines nationwide.

1:18:14 > 1:18:16The police fought back with everything they could

1:18:16 > 1:18:18to prevent the equality action.

1:18:18 > 1:18:21Unfortunately, Halford seemed to play into their hands.

1:18:21 > 1:18:25She went out to a social function when she was meant to be on call.

1:18:25 > 1:18:28'The allegations include neglect of duty,

1:18:28 > 1:18:32'being drunk at a social gathering and being in a swimming pool

1:18:32 > 1:18:36'and a Jacuzzi with a male officer while both were in their underwear.'

1:18:36 > 1:18:39These are allegations she has always denied.

1:18:39 > 1:18:42I went on some professional function, I was invited back

1:18:42 > 1:18:46to so-and-so's house and, of course, so-and-so had a swimming pool.

1:18:46 > 1:18:49Before I knew where I was, obviously a gin or two too many,

1:18:49 > 1:18:52they allowed me to go in the pool on my own,

1:18:52 > 1:18:55so I had a swim up and down in my underwear.

1:18:55 > 1:18:58That was it, got dressed and went home.

1:18:58 > 1:19:01And of course, then I realised the next morning

1:19:01 > 1:19:05that I had really, really fouled up badly

1:19:05 > 1:19:09because this was the excuse that they were looking for

1:19:09 > 1:19:10to get rid of me.

1:19:13 > 1:19:15Halford was found guilty of misconduct

1:19:15 > 1:19:18and suspended as her case dragged on.

1:19:18 > 1:19:23In her tribunal, she exposed a drunken, sexist and brutish culture.

1:19:25 > 1:19:28She settled out of court in 1992.

1:19:30 > 1:19:31Merseyside Police Authority

1:19:31 > 1:19:34and the assistant chief constable Alison Halford

1:19:34 > 1:19:37have finally reached agreement on her future.

1:19:37 > 1:19:39They will drop disciplinary charges against her,

1:19:39 > 1:19:42she will drop her claims of sex discrimination,

1:19:42 > 1:19:45and she will retire at the end of August on medical grounds

1:19:45 > 1:19:48with a lump-sum payment and a pension.

1:19:49 > 1:19:54I was not sad to leave because I realised that it was...

1:19:54 > 1:19:59Much of it was a charade, you couldn't trust police officers.

1:19:59 > 1:20:03The people who I had trusted to be fair to me had let me down badly.

1:20:03 > 1:20:06And once you take on an equality action,

1:20:06 > 1:20:09you know very well there is no way back.

1:20:09 > 1:20:12I understand that she was a very bright woman...

1:20:12 > 1:20:14No, IS still a very bright woman,

1:20:14 > 1:20:18and very confident and did her job very well.

1:20:18 > 1:20:22Possibly the force that she went to wasn't used to having very senior,

1:20:22 > 1:20:24very confident women there,

1:20:24 > 1:20:29and so they were sort of ready to shoot her down, I think.

1:20:29 > 1:20:33People were getting into hot water, and what you didn't know,

1:20:33 > 1:20:37I think, from a distance, was how justified or not that was.

1:20:37 > 1:20:40But there was a real sense that somebody was out to prove

1:20:40 > 1:20:43that women couldn't do the job - that was the sense I had at the time.

1:20:43 > 1:20:45Following on from the Halford case,

1:20:45 > 1:20:50the police force implemented some positive changes of their own.

1:20:50 > 1:20:53Officers in charge of maintaining equality were hired

1:20:53 > 1:20:56and grievance procedures were set up.

1:20:57 > 1:20:59Building from the positive changes,

1:20:59 > 1:21:05Pauline Clare was promoted to chief constable of Lancashire in 1995.

1:21:05 > 1:21:08She was the first woman to achieve this rank in the country.

1:21:08 > 1:21:11There will be some people in the organisation who will...

1:21:11 > 1:21:13sort of sit up at the fact that there is a woman there,

1:21:13 > 1:21:16but I'm sure that once they realise what skills I have to police,

1:21:16 > 1:21:19there won't be any problems at all.

1:21:19 > 1:21:23For the younger generations of female officers coming up,

1:21:23 > 1:21:25the glass ceiling had finally been broken.

1:21:25 > 1:21:28They were climbing the ranks and breaking new ground.

1:21:28 > 1:21:31Areas around the country which traditionally had been

1:21:31 > 1:21:35challenging for policewomen now had them at the top.

1:21:35 > 1:21:38Barbara Franklin became the first female

1:21:38 > 1:21:42homicide detective superintendent of Northumbria Police in 2002.

1:21:44 > 1:21:46Della Cannings became the first female

1:21:46 > 1:21:50chief constable of North Yorkshire Police in the same year.

1:21:51 > 1:21:53And in 2004,

1:21:53 > 1:21:56Barbara Wilding was appointed the first female

1:21:56 > 1:21:58chief constable of South Wales Police.

1:21:58 > 1:22:03The pinnacle's got to be becoming chief constable in North Yorkshire.

1:22:03 > 1:22:05You know, first female chief in the north-east,

1:22:05 > 1:22:08fifth ever female chief constable in the country

1:22:08 > 1:22:10and that's got to be the highlight of my career.

1:22:10 > 1:22:15And also to have my own police force to operate with is quite something.

1:22:15 > 1:22:19And in the Met, Cressida Dick was being fast-tracked up to the top.

1:22:20 > 1:22:23By the mid-noughties, she had successfully become

1:22:23 > 1:22:27a commander in the Met on her own merits.

1:22:27 > 1:22:31I could count on one hand the number of times that I felt that

1:22:31 > 1:22:36I was being treated differently, in a way that was unfair,

1:22:36 > 1:22:38or anything like that.

1:22:38 > 1:22:41But I was absolutely conscious that it was very difficult

1:22:41 > 1:22:44for some people, you know, as a women or, indeed,

1:22:44 > 1:22:48frankly any minority person in a group.

1:22:48 > 1:22:51You do feel that you have to work twice as hard

1:22:51 > 1:22:56to be taken seriously and/or that your mistakes will be amplified.

1:22:57 > 1:23:00'It was a routine call on a sunny morning,

1:23:00 > 1:23:02'but it became one of the blackest days

1:23:02 > 1:23:04'in the history of British policing.'

1:23:07 > 1:23:11With more women officers now serving in all areas of police life

1:23:11 > 1:23:13comes more tragedy.

1:23:15 > 1:23:17Ever since Yvonne Fletcher was gunned down

1:23:17 > 1:23:21outside the Libyan embassy in 1984,

1:23:21 > 1:23:24gun crime has become an increasing danger as female officers

1:23:24 > 1:23:28serve alongside their male colleagues on the front line.

1:23:28 > 1:23:31A woman police officer is dead and another seriously injured

1:23:31 > 1:23:33after a robbery in the centre of Bradford.

1:23:34 > 1:23:36Sharon Beshenivsky was killed

1:23:36 > 1:23:40trying to stop armed robbers in Bradford in 2005

1:23:40 > 1:23:45and, in 2012, Manchester constables Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone

1:23:45 > 1:23:48died in a gun and grenade attack.

1:23:48 > 1:23:50I think when a female officer

1:23:50 > 1:23:53is killed or injured like that,

1:23:53 > 1:23:57there is that extra dimension of sympathy.

1:23:57 > 1:24:00But it's an inevitable part

1:24:00 > 1:24:04of women taking their share of front-line police duties.

1:24:06 > 1:24:09That's what you take on

1:24:09 > 1:24:12when you take the job on.

1:24:12 > 1:24:15And I don't think that women today would want it any different.

1:24:18 > 1:24:20Since the '80s, there has been a rise in the number

1:24:20 > 1:24:24of specialist firearms units, but this most dangerous

1:24:24 > 1:24:27of police departments still has very few women officers.

1:24:27 > 1:24:30Right, with a magazine of ten rounds, load!

1:24:32 > 1:24:33Make ready.

1:24:33 > 1:24:3634-year-old Suzie Ranyard is a specially trained

1:24:36 > 1:24:38firearms officer working in Lincolnshire.

1:24:41 > 1:24:42'The firearms department'

1:24:42 > 1:24:46is quite a hard specialism to get into.

1:24:47 > 1:24:49And rightly so,

1:24:49 > 1:24:51because it's quite a responsible job.

1:24:51 > 1:24:53You could potentially take somebody's life.

1:24:53 > 1:24:55Put the sword down. Taser-trained officer,

1:24:55 > 1:24:57- put the sword down. - What are you going to do?

1:24:57 > 1:24:59- Sword down!- Yeah, whatever.

1:24:59 > 1:25:02HE GRUNTS 'Training is tough.

1:25:02 > 1:25:04'You're constantly being analysed and as a female officer

1:25:04 > 1:25:07you feel like you've got to prove yourself'

1:25:07 > 1:25:09and compete with the males, really.

1:25:11 > 1:25:14But the most exciting element of my job is not knowing

1:25:14 > 1:25:16what you're going to next. One minute you're sort of sat...

1:25:16 > 1:25:19You know, doing some speed checks, like I say,

1:25:19 > 1:25:23and the next minute you're jumping over walls, chasing after people,

1:25:23 > 1:25:26so I think that's the most exciting part of my role.

1:25:28 > 1:25:32- Armed police!- What's this about? - Drop the bag.- Why, why?

1:25:32 > 1:25:35- What are you going to do?- Put the bag down.- Are you going to shoot me?

1:25:35 > 1:25:37- Put it down.- It's up to you and all. - Walk towards me.

1:25:37 > 1:25:39'I think people respond better to females

1:25:39 > 1:25:42'and maybe females are better at negotiating.'

1:25:42 > 1:25:43Right, walk towards me.

1:25:43 > 1:25:46- Walk towards me, keep going. - Yeah, whatever.- Keep going. Right.

1:25:46 > 1:25:50'I'm a lot weaker than males so I have to rely on that'

1:25:50 > 1:25:53to get me through an incident or to resolve a situation.

1:25:53 > 1:25:56I'm going to handcuff you and have a chat with you, all right?

1:25:58 > 1:26:01British policing is no longer just a male domain.

1:26:01 > 1:26:04Today, there is a better representation of women

1:26:04 > 1:26:08in specialist units and at senior levels than anywhere in the world.

1:26:11 > 1:26:14Over the last hundred years, these trailblazers,

1:26:14 > 1:26:18determined that women should play an equal role in the police force,

1:26:18 > 1:26:23overcame deep-seated resistance to secure change.

1:26:23 > 1:26:26And their achievements, both for police officers and the public,

1:26:26 > 1:26:29are profound because they strike at the heart of

1:26:29 > 1:26:30inequality and injustice.

1:26:33 > 1:26:36Now there are nine female chief constables in the country

1:26:36 > 1:26:40and until her resignation early in 2015,

1:26:40 > 1:26:44the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick

1:26:44 > 1:26:47was the highest-ranking female officer in Britain.

1:26:47 > 1:26:50I would like all women to feel that

1:26:50 > 1:26:54they could do anything they liked in policing,

1:26:54 > 1:26:58that they don't just survive but they're really thriving

1:26:58 > 1:27:02and they're having as much fun and interest and excitement

1:27:02 > 1:27:05and challenge and satisfaction as I have had.

1:27:08 > 1:27:11It's impossible to predict what the future will hold

1:27:11 > 1:27:12for female officers.

1:27:13 > 1:27:17External factors such as cuts and increased privatisation

1:27:17 > 1:27:19will always have an effect,

1:27:19 > 1:27:22and police forces still have a long way to go

1:27:22 > 1:27:26if they want to reflect the communities they serve.

1:27:26 > 1:27:28When I joined in '75,

1:27:28 > 1:27:315% of the force were female, across the country.

1:27:31 > 1:27:34It's something around the 20-plus percentage rate

1:27:34 > 1:27:38which is a marked improvement - not as fast and as good as I expected.

1:27:38 > 1:27:42As soon as there's any sort of cutbacks in organisations,

1:27:42 > 1:27:44the danger is that the women slide back

1:27:44 > 1:27:47in terms of their percentage of representation in...

1:27:47 > 1:27:50whether it's department or senior ranks or whatever,

1:27:50 > 1:27:53and I think that's my big concern at the moment.

1:27:53 > 1:27:57I don't think that there's equality within society,

1:27:57 > 1:27:59so I don't think that you can as, the police service to represent

1:27:59 > 1:28:02something that's not already in society.

1:28:02 > 1:28:05But I actually think that the police, in many instances,

1:28:05 > 1:28:12are at the cutting edge of change and do drive change through.

1:28:16 > 1:28:20I think the police service has changed absolutely remarkably.

1:28:20 > 1:28:25I do feel sad that they become a continual target of criticism.

1:28:27 > 1:28:30We can all sit and say, "Oh, well, if I was there I would have done this

1:28:30 > 1:28:35"and I would have done that." That's so easy for people to say.

1:28:38 > 1:28:41I think the Metropolitan Police and the rest of the police service

1:28:41 > 1:28:45have the courage to hold up the mirror to themselves

1:28:45 > 1:28:49on a continual basis and say, "What needs to change?"

1:28:49 > 1:28:52And having identified what needs to change,

1:28:52 > 1:28:54they have the courage to do it.